


Was This Really A Good Idea?

by TrustCompany88



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: At some point this runs right off the rails because I went there, F/M, Kai still loves sex and will make innuendos, Some things are in line with canon and some of it is completely fabricated, This is Red Vs. Blue so there will be swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-08-28 02:08:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 28
Words: 67,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16714522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrustCompany88/pseuds/TrustCompany88
Summary: [Canon Divergence AU] How different would things have turned out if Agent Washington hadn't left Kaikaina Grif alone after their meeting in Blood Gulch? Would her involvement during the events of the Recollection Arc have changed anything?





	1. Reconstruction: This Has Got To Be The Worst Idea Ever, Of All Time

**Author's Note:**

> At some point, I noticed that every female character in Red Vs. Blue was a badass in some way or another. Except Kai because we never got to see her character develop. We have no idea if she can even shoot a gun even after she makes a reappearance in Season 16. I got to wondering if she could have ended up as a badass like the rest of the female characters if she had been given the chance to. And then this happened. So I hope you all enjoy this work of my imagination. I had a lot of fun writing it and they may be a bit out of character but I hope that it's still okay. Please let me know what you think!

_"Everybody's gone. Transferred. No one told_ me _anything."_

 

Why couldn't he stop thinking of what that Blue Team private said? He was supposed to be on his way to find Private Caboose. Instead, here he was, standing at the entrance/exit of Blood Gulch thinking of that private that called him a cop. He really should just be on his way and forget about her, but there was just something about what she said that struck a cord in him. He'd been standing there staring at Blue Base for half an hour now and still couldn't figure out just why he couldn't leave.

 

_"Good luck with your empty base and your raging insanity."_

 

"Damn it. I can't believe I'm actually going to do this," he sighed as he finally figured out just why he was still standing in Blood Gulch.

 

She was alone. Just like he has been since the _Mother of Invention_ crashed on Sidewinder. Abandoned by everyone he knew and that he thought cared about him. And now here was someone else left in the same position he was in. Left alone to try and figure out what they were supposed to do. Here was a chance for him to do the one thing no one had bothered to do for him, and that was to not leave her alone like he had been.

 

With his mind finally made up, Agent Washington headed back to Blue Base. He was sure that this was probably his worst idea ever. Of all time. But who knows, maybe some company would be nice for once. And it wasn't like he had to tell her everything that he had planned. Besides, she'd probably get distracted by her teammate once they met up with him.

 

"Hey!" He paused, waiting to see if she would answer, "I know you're in there and if you don't come out here in the next 30 seconds, I will come in there and get you myself!"

 

"What the fuck do you want, Cop!? Did you like come back to arrest me or something!?" The Blue Team private yelled as she appeared at the entrance.

 

"I told you, I'm not a cop! And I'm not arresting you!" This was a really, really terrible idea. Why was he doing this again?

 

"Then what the fuck do you want? I was trying to sleep off my hangover!" Agent Washington only had time to perform half of his breathing exercise to prepare himself for the inevitable fallout that the rest of the conversation -if he could even call their shouting match a conversation- was going to be.

 

"You don't have time for that. We're leaving."

 

"I knew it! You are arresting me! You'll never take me alive, Cop!"

 

"That's not what I meant! I told you, I'm not a cop and I'm not arresting you!" He paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "Look, I know you're by yourself here and I know how much that sucks. I'm heading off to find one of your teammates. You can either come with me and not be alone anymore or you can stay here by yourself for the rest of your life because I can promise you that no one is ever going to come back here."

 

She was silent for a while and Agent Washington was beginning to wonder if she was thinking it over or if she died standing there. And then she finally spoke, "Why are you trying to help me? Everyone else just forgot about me and left me here, so why aren't you?"

 

That wasn't something that he was expecting from her. He was expecting her to shout at him like she had been since they first met, not for her to be serious and ask why. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to answer that question either. That would mean letting someone get closer than he wanted them to be and he didn't want to get to know someone. Let alone letting them know him. They might try to stop him from going through with his plan.

 

"I know what it's like to be alone. All of my friends abandoned me. They left me and they never came back. We might not have the same circumstance, but we're both in the same position. Alone. And being left alone for so long makes you bitter and angry at everyone. For once, I don't feel like seeing someone turn out like me. So I'll take you to your teammate, but that's it. After that I'll get the information that I need and then I'll be gone."

 

"Alright. I'll come with you. Maybe on the way I can show you my ping pong ball trick!"

 

"Sure you can show me - wait. What!?"

 

"My name's Kaikaina by the way, but everyone just calls me Sister!"

 

"I'm not calling you Sister. Let's just go already. I'm already an hour behind schedule," he said as he turned and began walking back to the exit of Blood Gulch. The sound of Kaikaina's footsteps behind him as she hurried to catch up.

 

"Yeah, I make a lot of people late. I think this is the first time that they weren't late because we were having sex."

 

_Jesus Christ, this is going to be a long trip_ , he thought as a migraine was beginning to form.


	2. Reconstruction: This Is What You Get For Being A Nice Person

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the dialogue is taken directly from the show, so if it looks familiar, you know why. Also, I am my own editor and no matter how many times I go over something, I usually end up missing things anyway, if I do just let me know and I'll go back and fix it.

"So then his girlfriend shows up, and I'm like 'Damn! She's fucking hot!'. So I start hitting on her and I don't think she understood that I was trying to get her in bed with us because she just started screaming at us. So then I-"

 

"For the love of God. Will you _please_ stop. I didn't want to hear about your sexual exploits two hours ago and I still don't want to hear about them now," he pleaded. If he had to listen to anymore of this for the next 20 minutes, he just might save the Meta the trouble of killing him and do it himself.

 

And that was another problem he really wasn't looking forward to facing yet. He didn't know what kind of skills Kaikaina had with a gun or hand to hand combat and if they ran into the Meta, he didn't know if he would be able to protect her and still take on the Meta. On top of that, Command had called him half an hour ago and told him that he was to take Private Caboose with him. His plan to leave Kaikaina with him was now shot to shit and he'd have to bring her with them because otherwise that would mean leaving her alone again. Damn his conscience.

 

"Ugh! You're such a buzzkill! Are like, all cops like this or just you?" Well, at least it wasn't about her sex life anymore.

 

"I'm not a cop, so I _really_ don't know," The whole 'cop' thing was really starting to get old too. He could kind of see how some people went off the deep end and committed homicide/suicide. If she brought it up again he just might do it.

 

"So then, if you're not a cop then what are you? Like, are you some sort of secret agent on a mission to stop a corrupt government project that you were part of or something?" 

 

 _How the actual fuck did she get most of that right!?_ He wondered as his eyes widened. Good thing that she can't see his face through the visor. He would never admit that she was mostly right.

 

"Yeah. Sure. Something like that. Are you always this chatty?"

 

"Cryptic much? And someone has to talk, it obviously isn't gonna be you. Unless you know, you wanna tell me more about yourself. I haven't been able to figure out if I wanna bang you yet or not. Usually I can tell if a person is hot enough to bang after talking to them for like five minutes. I still need at least another minute of conversation out of you before I can decide if you're hot or not."

 

"Jesus Christ," he whispered to himself, "You don't need to know anything about me besides the fact that I'm taking you to your teammate. Speaking of which, we're here. Just stay here while I go find the person in charge."

 

"Whatever," Kaikaina paused as she watched him walk over to the closest soldier before calling out, "Ask them where the bathroom is! I've had to pee for like the last hour and you weren't very good at distracting me from that thought!"

 

Fuck it. This is the last time he does anything nice for anyone. Ever again. He should have just left her in Blood Gulch. Of course his conscience just had to attack him about that and make him feel guilty about that thought. So, with an exasperated sigh, he asked the closest soldier if he could speak to his CO because he needed one of his men for a special mission. And where the bathroom was.

 

"Let's go. He told me the bathroom is this way," he told Kaikaina when he got back to her.

 

As he lead her through the hallway, he made sure to keep an eye out. He needed to make sure that his plan was working. So far, he hadn't seen it but he knew knew that the Meta had to be here somewhere. It just had to be. If it wasn't then all of Agent Washington's carefully made plan could fall apart.

 

"There. I'll be out in the main area when you get done. Try not to get in any trouble. Or lost. I'm not going to come find you if you do," she nodded in response and went into the bathroom. After she was in, he headed back out to the area where he had talked to the soldier.

 

There. The Meta was here just like he planned for it to be. He spotted it not a moment too soon because seconds later he could hear the sound of an angry man yelling as he came down the stairs.

 

"Oh no! Hell no! Excuse me, sir, but no God damn way!"

 

"You must be Lieutenant Miller."

 

Of course this was the moment that Kaikaina decided to grace them with her presence once again. And of course she just had to chime into the conversation.

 

"Hey! Who's the angry old guy?! He kinda reminds me of my dad before he got fed up with my mom and left."

 

"Excuse me!? What the hell is this!?" And now the Lieutenant was even more pissed. Just great.

 

"Never mind her, I have orders that say that I need Private Caboose to come with me and I need him to come with me now," Agent Washington said, trying to get the conversation back on track so that he could finally get the hell out of here. As far as he was concerned, he was just done with today and he had the feeling it was only going to get worse.

 

"Caboose? You're taking Caboose? And I don't have to pay you or anything like that?" He wasn't sure if the man was happy or sad about the fact that he was taking Private Caboose with him and Kaikaina.

 

"Is that a problem?"

 

"It fucking better not be! Caboose is fucking awesome!" Kaikaina yelled at the CO. She sounded more than thrilled that they were here for Caboose.

 

"Problem? Hell no!" Miller laughed before continuing, "It must be Christmas mornin' and no one told me! You stay right there, I'll get him for ya."

 

Suddenly, Washington wasn't quite sure how he felt about this situation. The Lieutenant seemed a little too happy to be getting rid of this Private Caboose. Which made him wonder just what the hell this Caboose did to earn this reaction from his CO.

 

Lieutenant Miller turned towards the scaffolding and called, "Private Jo-en-es! JO-EN-ES! JO-EN-ES! Where the hell are you!?"

 

"Sir, for the millionth time, my name is pronounced 'Jones'. JONES. Seriously! Lots of people have the name, it's very common! How am I the first guy you've met called 'Jones'?" The man in question said in a tone of exasperation that could almost match Washington himself.

 

"Jo-en-es, I need you to go down to the brig, untie Caboose, and get him up here," the Lieutenant commanded.

 

"Me!? Alone!?" The private sounded nervous.

 

"Double time Jo-en-es!"

 

"It's pronounced J- never mind. Christ," Private Jones sighed as he turned and headed through the door behind him.

 

"You keep him in the brig?" Washington asked, out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kaikaina was tense. This was not going to end well.

 

"You keep him tied up in a jail cell!? What the fuck is wrong with you!?" There is was. He just had to be right, didn't he?

 

"I'm not taking anymore chances," Miller spoke calmly as a gunshot went off in the background, followed by a cry of pain, "You'll understand soon enough."

 

They watched as a Blue armored soldier walked out of the tunnel in front of them. He could tell that Kaikaina was still pissed at Lieutenant Miller, but she visibly brightened at the presence of the new comer.

 

"Caboose! I missed you so much!" She all but tackled the private in a hug and then proceeded to fret over his well being.

 

"Notice that the guy I sent to get him isn't with him?" Miller asked Washington before turning back to the rest of his privates, "Would someone go check on him?"

 

Agent Washington was more concerned with the fact that Kaikaina was _still_ checking over Caboose, rather than what Miller just told him. If she was doing that yet, then it could mean something was wrong with the man and that would slow them down. Which would be bad.

 

"Caboose," the man called to try and get the Blue soldier's attention, "This here is Special Agent Washington from Blue Command. He has something fantastic that he needs to talk to you about."

 

 _Fantastic for you maybe. I have the feeling that it's not going to be so fantastic for me_ , Agent Washington thought as he turned his attention to Caboose.

 

"Command? Oh no. They never have good news! Did somebody die? Was it my mom? Is she dead? Or my dad, did my dad die again? Oh no."

 

"What is this? I-I don't," Washington had no idea how to deal with the Blue soldier's freak out and Kaikaina was standing behind Caboose laughing like this was the best thing that ever happened to her.

 

"Heh-heh, you see? He's yours now. No take backs," Lieutenant Miller supplied in the most unhelpful manner that Washington had ever seen. Seriously, what the hell was he supposed to do with this? He was hoping to at least have someone slightly competent helping him with his plan. If this was what he was dealing with, he was fucked.

 

"Is it my brother!? Was my brother killed!? That's it, isn't it!? My brother's dead!" Caboose continued with his freak out and Kaikaina finally lost it and fell to the ground laughing hysterically.

 

"What!? N-No, nothing like that," he finally cut in before this went any further than it already had.

 

"Oh good. Because I don't even have a brother! How sad would it be to not have a brother and to lose a brother all in the same day!?"

 

"No one died!" Washington clarified. If he didn't, he could tell that this could have gone on a lot longer than it already had. Of course that was when one of the privates had to show up and tell them that 'Jo-en-es' was dead, "Okay, no one besides him."

 

"We agreed that it was nobody's fault. Psst! I think the new guy did it!" Caboose 'whispered' to Agent Washington.

 

"Private Caboose. I know that you were stationed in Blood Gulch. Our records indicate that you were infected by an aggressive Artificial Intelligence program at one point. The Omega AI? Is that correct?" He had had enough of this bullshit. All he wanted to do was get this done and over with. Not to mention that he could tell the Meta was getting antsy at this point. They needed to get moving.

 

"Yeah... That wasn't really much fun. Blood Gulch was pretty great though."

 

"Okay. Well I need you to come with me. I'm investigating a critical issue, and you seem to be the only person with the knowledge and experience necessary to help me," Caboose just stared at him while Kaikaina broke into fresh peels of laughter, "And I just realized how ridiculous that sounded once I said it out loud. Nonetheless, I need you to come with me."

 

"Can I have a word with him first, Sir?" Miller asked as he walked passed them.

 

"Sure, I guess," he answered and Caboose followed his CO over to the barricades that were just strewn about with no real purpose. Once they started talking, Agent Washington tuned them out in favor of trying to get Kaikaina to stop laughing at him, "It wasn't that funny. You can stop laughing now."

 

"Psh! Yeah it was! I bet even the tall broody dude up there thought it was funny!" She giggled some more before she suddenly turned serious and whispered to him, "But like seriously, you should probably call the cops on that guy. He's been stalking us and while that's kinda hot, I kinda feel like it's not me that he's stalking. If you know what I mean."

 

And how the fuck did she keep catching on to these things!? He was almost positive that she was too airheaded to be able to notice that the Meta was following them!

 

"Just ignore it for now. If it becomes a problem, I'll take care of it," he told her.

 

"That sounds kinda hot!" Kaikaina said just as Caboose finished his conversation with Miller and made his way back to them. And thank God, they could finally leave.

 

"Alright, let's get going."

 

"Okay!" They both responded as Agent Washington lead them towards the exit. Surprisingly, they were both quiet for once. And he probably just jinxed himself.

 

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet!?" Caboose started and then Kaikaina joined in. He swore that she did it just to annoy him since she was laughing.

 

"Just. Try to stay quiet."

 

"I'm hungry. I'm thirsty. I have to go to the bathroom again." Kaikaina lost it all over again.

 

 _Can this day just be over yet?_ He prayed to anyone that could be bothered to listen. No one answered. Which meant that this day was no where near being done. Just his fucking luck.


	3. Reconstruction: If You Think You Dug Your Own Grave, Chances Are That You Buried Yourself Too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got nothing this time. Enjoy!

Agent Washington learned very quickly that if he had to question Caboose, he should use only small words. And even then the man didn't understand half of what he was asked. But he did learn that Kaikaina and Caboose's leader from Blood Gulch knew more about the AIs and Project Freelancer than they did. So, against his better judgement, they were going to go talk to him as well.

 

They were still a couple of hours out from this 'Church's' location and he knew they could have made it there easily but he also knew that Kaikaina was tired. Also, according to Kaikaina, Caboose had to be kept on a certain schedule or things would not be pretty. Which lead to him telling them that they were going to stay in the woods just before the canyon walling began.

 

Caboose got excited when he told them that and started babbling about camping and how this was going to be just awesome. Kaikaina on the other hand was less than thrilled because sleeping on the dirt is gross and that there were too many bugs and couldn't they find a nice hotel instead? Washington didn't really care where they stayed, it wasn't like he was going to sleep anyway with the Meta trailing them. So he just told them to shut up and go to sleep.

 

With Caboose actually sleeping and Kaikaina sitting up against a tree with her knees pulled up against her chest staring at the fire Washington had started, it was quiet. Finally, that pesky headache of his was starting to go away now that they were both quiet. Then again Kaikaina could always seem to sense when he wanted to be left alone and made to sure to bug him.

 

"I've decided! You are definitely hot enough to bang!" She whispered loudly to him. He felt the urge to facepalm but refrained, "Also, your name is like waaaayyy too long. I'm gonna call you Wash. Or Agent Hottie. Personally I like Agent Hottie better."

 

_Dear God, why me?_ Washington thought as his eye started twitching. Thank God he never took his helmet off like the other two did. He'd rather that she didn't know that she had any sort of effect on him. Granted it was mostly annoyance, but it was still more emotion than he was used to showing. And right now, showing any sort of emotion would not be good since he had enemies on both sides of the board.

 

"Can I tell you a secret?" Kaikaina asked him when he didn't bother to respond to her after a few minutes.

 

"If it has something to do with your sex life, I don't want to hear it. But I'm sure you'll just end up telling me anyway," he answered and Kaikaina stayed quiet for a minute. He was beginning to think that she wasn't going to say anything and that was perfectly fine with him.

 

"Everyone treats me like a hussy, which you know, I'm fine with because I love sex. But I've never actually met someone that didn't though. I don't really know how to act around someone that doesn't treat me like that. I don't know how I'm supposed to act around _you_ ," she admitted and right then, he didn't know how to respond to that. How was he the first person that she met that treated her just like everyone else?

 

"You could stop acting all together and just be yourself. I know you're not nearly as airheaded as you act. You've noticed things that most people wouldn't. The real question you have to ask yourself, is if you are tired of holding back and hiding who you really want to be," he paused, "Get some sleep. I have the feeling that tomorrow is going to be just as long as today was."

 

Washington stood up from his position that was similar to Kaikaina's, the only difference was that he had only pulled one of legs against his chest while he rested his arm on his knee. He checked his assault rifle's ammo and then his pistol's ammo before walking off into the surrounding woods to do a patrol of the area. He couldn't let the Meta get too close to them after all.

 

He also had to make a call to Command. He hadn't contacted them since before they picked up Caboose two hours ago. He didn't want to make the call with Kaikaina around because he didn't exactly tell them that he took her with him. As far as they'll know, he's been by himself until he met up with Caboose. It was a miracle that he had managed to keep her quite when Command contacted him about picking up Caboose.

 

For some reason, he didn't think it would be in his best interest for Command to find out that he had taken Kaikaina Grif with him when he left Blood Gulch. He remembered his conversation with the Counselor about not being able to work with a partner. The man had seemed just as pleased to hear that as he had been about Washington saying that he didn't want another AI. So right now, he was going to keep Kaikaina's presence as far off their radar as he could.

 

"This is Recovery One calling Command, come in Command."

 

_"Go ahead Recovery One, we have you."_

 

"I reached Outpost 28 and spoke with Private Caboose. He's not the easiest person to talk to, but he did agree to come with me and show me where his previous CO is located. Apparently this man can tell me anything I need to know about the Omega AI."

 

_"Excellent news, Agent Washington. How long until you make contact?"_

 

"Private Caboose and I are two hours away from our destination. We would be arriving soon but it appears that Private Caboose is... a little slow from his experience with the Omega AI. We set up camp for the night and we will be moving again at dawn."

 

_"See if you can leave sooner than that. You don't need me to remind you of just what is out there."_

 

"You're right. I don't. Nothing further to report, Command."

 

_"Alright. Good luck, Wash. And stay safe. Command out."_

 

"Recovery One out."

 

When his radio fell silent, Washington took a slow deep breath and let it out quietly before scanning the area for any other signs of life. He knew that the Meta must have caught up to them by now, but wherever it was, it wasn't planning on making itself known. And so he just continued on with his patrol. He circled the area twice more before heading back to the camp. It would be dawn soon and it seemed that the Meta wasn't planning on making a move tonight.

 

Upon arriving back at camp, he noticed that Caboose was miraculously still asleep and so was Kaikaina. She had told him that Caboose always woke before dawn back at Blood Gulch. The fact that he was still sleeping gave Washington a good indication of just how poorly they had treated him at Outpost 28. It even made him feel a little angry to see someone treated in a manner similar to how they treated him after Epsilon. Locked up, isolated, and alone.

 

He really needed to stop relating to these Simulation Troopers. If he started to actually care about them, then that would make it so much more difficult to follow through with his plan. And he needed to finish this. Hopefully he could keep himself distant long enough to end this.

 

As he approached Kaikaina to wake her up before waking Caboose, he could tell that it was only going to become more difficult to remain distant. He had only been with them for just under 24 hours and he had found multiple ways that they were like him. This was not good.


	4. Reconstruction: Murder And Suicide Are Both Frowned Upon, But At Least You Know The Witness Won't Tell The Cops Anything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Other than the fact that I suck at punctuation, I got nothing. I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

The trip to 'Church's' base took longer than the two hours that it was supposed to take. Caboose asked to stop and use the bathroom five times and Kaikaina had asked once. The stops had added 45 extra minutes to their trip and it made Washington irritated and a little paranoid. The Meta could have decided to attack them during their stops because it got antsy. Their luck -what little they had anyway- held out and they had finally made it to the base.

 

As they approached the base, the group was quiet. In fact Kaikaina had been rather quiet all day unless she was answering a question that Caboose asked her directly and when she asked to use the bathroom. Caboose on the other hand had been chattering happily the whole trip up until about 10 minutes ago. Washington figured that he should enjoy the silence while he could. From what he had learned about them so far, he just knew that this 'Church' was going to be just as loud as Kaikaina and Caboose. He was really not looking forward to this.

 

Washington stopped in front of the base with Caboose and Kaikaina on either side of him. He was starting to think that Caboose had brought them to the wrong place because there was no sound or movement coming from inside. Something felt a little off about it.

 

"And you're sure this is where we can find this guy?" He asked Caboose.

 

"I think so," Caboose answered as he turned to face Washington, "We all found out our new orders at the same time, he tried to hide his from me so I would not know where he was."

 

"Yeah, at least you fuckers all got new orders. I didn't get shit besides being left alone," Kaikaina muttered bitterly. Caboose didn't seem to hear her but Washington frowned at the bitterness in her voice. She was more effected by being left alone than she let on and she sounded like him when she said that.

 

"Really? I can't imagine why," he said to Caboose while trying to think of a way to speak with Kaikaina about her comment. He had to find a way to help her let go or she was going to end up like him and that was the reason he brought her along to begin with; to keep that from happening.

 

"I said it was like a game of hide and seek and he said that that was right. He was going to hide from me and the only way that he could win, is if he dies without ever seeing me again."

 

"And you're sure that he knows about Freelancer as well?" He was feeling a little skeptical about that. How could this man know as much about Freelancer as those two claimed?

 

"Oh, yeah, he knows the most! He knows, uh, all about your AI game. He dated Tex!" He must have misheard that. How was it possible for an AI to date someone? Washington knew she was an AI, Epsilon had shown him that much. And more. He knew everything now after all.

 

"Agent Texas? Um, how could a person-" he was cut off by the sound of a gun firing and a bullet flying between Caboose and himself.

 

"Fuck!" Someone shouted from inside the base. That voice though, it was so... familiar. But due to the pressure of someone shooting at them, he didn't have the time to try and place where he knew it from.

 

"Get to cover!" Washington yelled as he grabbed Kaikaina by the elbow and dragged her with him behind the boulders. After a moment passed, he noticed that Caboose hadn't followed them. He heard him say something to himself, but Washington didn't hear what exactly.

 

"Okay! That was your one warning shot!" The familiar voice called out to them, "The next one's going right between your eyes!"

 

"Private Caboose! Get down!" He yelled, an unsettling feeling rolling through him. Caboose was going to get shot and it was going to be all his fault. Just like it was his fault for not being there when Maine got shot multiple times in the throat. If he had just been there, maybe he could have stopped it.

 

As if she sensed where his thoughts had headed, Kaikaina placed her hand on his shoulder. He jumped slightly at the contact, she just brushed his reaction off and shook her head at him.

 

"He'll be alright. I'd know that crabby bitch's voice anywhere. He can't aim for shit," she told him. It didn't really make him less worried but if she was that positive that she knew the man shooting at them, then he'd try to take her word for it.

 

"Wait a minute..."

 

"Alright! I warned you! Sayonara, biatch!" The man yelled before firing another round that missed Caboose completely. Just like Kaikaina said it would. With evidence that she was right about the shooter, Agent Washington relaxed a minute amount, "Aw, come on, what the fuck!?"

 

He was about to call out to Caboose again just in case the shooter got a lucky hit but Kaikaina tugged gently on his shoulder. She had yet to remove her hand.

 

"Seriously. Caboose'll be alright. For some reason he seems to think that this a game that Church likes to play with him. It may seem like Church is really trying sometimes but I can tell that he actually does care about Caboose even if he never says or shows it," so this was Church then. With the way Caboose had talked about the man, Washington expected more.

 

"This is the friend that you and Caboose told me about? Funny, I expected more for some reason," he told her as Caboose and Church continued to yell back and forth at each other. The sound of various gunshots going off almost cut off the giggle that Kaikaina let out at his comment, "I think it's about time we put a stop to this."

 

"Oh, I can do that," she said as she stood up and yelled, "Stop firing at us you stupid bitch!"

 

"Sister!? What the fuck are you two doing here!?"

 

"Bitch I can go where I please! I got tired of being alone and Agent Hottie said that he would take me to my teammate! Well now he brought me to two of them!"

 

"Agent... Hottie? Agent- You brought a fucking _Freelancer_ here! What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Church screamed in a high pitched way that kind of hurt his ears. He decided that it was probably best that he make his presence known to Church.

 

"Oh! Oh! Church! This is Agent Washington! He needs to speak to you!" Caboose called out enthusiastically. Kaikaina nodded in agreement with Caboose's statement.

 

"Really, Kaikaina? Did you have to call me that?"

 

"Damn right I did. I told you that I was gonna to call you that after I decided that you're definitely hot enough to fuck. Plus I have a new reason added to that list," she told him in a giddy manner. Honestly, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to know what her new reason was, "You know, you can call me Kai if you want. Or Sexy Bitch. I'll take either if it's you calling me that."

 

"Jesus Christ," he muttered to himself in exasperation before he turned his attention back to Church, "Open this gate!"

 

"Uh, no can do, bud. See, this is a secure facility. Nobody in, nobody out. Sorry, I guess you'll have to come back... never."

 

"Oh, no," he could just feel his sarcasm rearing it's head. It was closely followed by his mounting irritation with the soldier that was trying to prevent his progress, "Then I guess we'll just have to walk through the huge hole in your secure wall."

 

"...Fine. I'll open the fucking gate," Church spat before he disappeared from their sight.

 

"Hell yeah! You fucking told him!" Kai congratulated him for his victory over Church.

 

"It really wasn't that hard," he deadpanned as the gate slid open, giving them access to the base.

 

Caboose bounded in like a kid hopped up on sugar just from the prospect of giving Church a hug. Which he did. Tightly. Kai walked passed him with her hands on her hips and made sure that she put a little extra sway in her hips. He wasn't sure if she was actually starting to get a crush on him or if she just really wanted to have sex with him. Either way, he brushed it off and just walked inside.

 

Washington looked around as he made his way to the others. This place looked like a fucking disaster. And not in the 'I didn't bother to pick up the trash because I was too lazy' type of way. The walls were missing chunks and he could see rebar sticking out of a few of them. Also, a few cones were placed around an area where a pile of rubble sat. Over all, the base looked destroyed.

 

"Okay, well, sorry the place is so messy. I would've cleaned up if I'd known you guys were coming, but hey, no one called ahead," Church told them but Washington seriously doubted that he would have cleaned up even if he did know that they were coming.

 

"How long have you been here?" He knew he shouldn't have asked that. He just knew that the answer was going to make him sympathize with Church like he already was with Kai and Caboose.

 

"How long? Uh... what day is today?"

 

"Seriously? Don't you have like, a calendar or something? It's fucking Tuesday!" Kai answered for him.

 

And oh God, here it comes. Dread settled over him, whatever Church answered was going to tell him just how long he had been here alone. Somehow, he just knew that he had been alone here the whole time. Even worse, it's going to tell him just how long Kai had been alone and just how long Caboose had been treated so poorly at Outpost 28.

 

"I've been here 14 months."

 

Just over a year. They had all been separated and left to rot for over a year. Just like he had been left alone for years and suddenly he felt like he was going to be sick. What the hell was wrong with _that man_ to make him think that it was okay to just do things like this to people!? That deep seeded feeling of rage that he felt towards the Project only grew stronger. This was the final straw that Washington needed, the last push to make sure that he didn't back out of his plan.

 

"Wow. Looks like you got just as fucked over by the new orders as I did," Kai told Church, the bitterness seeping back into her voice.

 

"Yeah. Looks that way."

 

And of course, his radio just had to go off while he was feeling like this. Right now all he wanted to do was yell and scream and rage about how Project Freelancer deserved to burn to the ground. How _that man_ deserved the most painful death imaginable. Instead he just pushed his feelings down like he always did and gave Kai the signal to be quiet. She nodded her head in understanding.

 

_"This is Command calling Recovery One. Come in Recovery One."_

 

Washington held up his finger to let them know that he needed a minute before he turned away from them, "This is Agent Washington, I've made contact with the remaining Blue Team member that has extensive experience with Omega."

 

He heard Church say something in the background, but whatever it was, it wasn't that important at the moment. Caboose answered whatever Church asked and he just prayed that whatever they were talking about didn't devolve into another argument between the two.

 

 _"Excellent Agent Washington, please stand by for orders,"_ the woman paused before continuing, _"Now that you have reassembled the Blues, you should head to Outpost 17B, see what clues your team can gather there based on what they know."_

 

"Roger that."

 

_"We want you to stop the Meta at all costs, this is a Level One directive... good luck Wash. Recovery Command out."_

 

"Recovery One out," he finished as he started walking toward the bases gate. The sound of his radio clicked before he spoke to the group, "Come on, let's move out."

 

"Move out? At what point in this conversation did you think that we were buddies or something? I'm not going with you," Church snipped.

 

"Yes! You are not in our buddy club!" Caboose agreed with Church, because of fucking course he did.

 

"I'm going with him," Kai told them. Washington was actually surprised that she volunteered to go now that she was reunited with her teammates, "And before you ask, it's not because I think Wash is hot or because I wanna fuck him. I'm going because he said that he would take me to my teammates so that I wouldn't have to be alone anymore. And he did, so I'm going to help him because he's the only person that hasn't let me down yet."

 

"Fine. I'll fucking go with you. But I'm only going because I don't want to be left alone with Caboose," Church hissed like an angry cat, "Where are we going anyway?"

 

"The ship from your canyon finally crashed. Command wants us to investigate it," he answered as they walked out of the gate. Church froze for a moment and Wash was pretty sure that he knew why he did.

 

"You found Tex's ship? Why didn't you tell us sooner? Let's fucking move it already!"

 

He sighed and mentally prepared himself for another really long trip. Church and Caboose were already arguing about Caboose's armor 'upgrade'. After a few feet, he noticed that Kai wasn't following them. He turned back towards the direction of Church's base and saw her standing at the entrance, looking for something.

 

"Kai! Come on or they'll leave us behind! Even if they don't know where they're going!" He called out. He watched her take one last look around the inside of the base before she turned and ran towards him, "What were you looking for?"

 

"I thought someone else was there but I couldn't find them. Guess it was my imagination," she really was too perceptive. She could tell that the Meta had been there with them the whole time. He needed to tell her to be careful or else she would draw its attention to her. And that wouldn't be good, "It's nice to know that you're paying attention to me. Maybe on the way to where we're going we can stop somewhere and have a quickie."

 

"Good Lord," he muttered before deciding that he wasn't even going to bother to say anything about her sex comment, "You need to be careful, Kai. I know that something was there also but if you keep purposely trying to find it, it will target you."

 

"You know what it is, don't you? Plan on sharing that info or not?"

 

"I will. But I need to make sure that it's not around when I do. Otherwise it will attack us outright instead of follow us," he answered and Kai just nodded and kept in step with him.

 

They walked in silence for a few minutes before the sound of Church screaming reached their ears. Both of them just sighed in annoyance while Wash muttered out another 'Jesus Christ'. He was really starting to contemplate killing those two. And then maybe himself. He was pretty sure that Kai wouldn't tell any sort of authority figure what happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I missed a word or something, feel free to let me know and I will go back and fix it.


	5. Reconstruction: If They Start Singing Kumbaya Around The Campfire, Then It's Perfectly Acceptable To Shoot Yourself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So fun fact about this chapter: it was the turning point in deciding just what kind of relationship Wash and Kai were going to have. My friend that I was sending the original drafts of this story to for an opinion, told me that after he read this chapter that Wash and Kai needed to be a thing. And so it became Wash/Kai after that. I easily could have made them best friends or friends with benefits. Enough of my rambling though. I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

Outpost 17B turned out to be a lot farther by foot than it would have been by vehicle. Sadly, Wash didn't have the resources to get another vehicle besides the Mongoose that he had been using up until he had decided to take Kai with him. He had used it to take both Kai and himself to Outpost 28, but after that he had had to ditch it because there was no way for it to carry all three of them. It had been a stretch just taking Kai on it.

 

So once again, he found himself camping in the woods. And once again, he was met with the same responses from Kai and Caboose. The only difference this time was that Church decided to add his own two cents into the mix. His complaint had been about how Wash was too cheap to get them a place to stay. That was not the case at all and he told Church that they were miles away from any sort of base/inn. Church didn't really care what he had to say and just continued to bitch until Wash told him to shut the fuck up or he would shoot him.

 

Oddly, Kai's face practically lit up at that comment. He wasn't sure if he should be concerned about her mental health or not. That concern lead him back to his concern about her from earlier in the day when they were still at Church's base. He still needed to talk to her about her bitterness towards her team for leaving her alone. Better late than never he supposed.

 

"I can't believe this. This is fucking bullshit!" Church ranted about the situation once again. And seriously, Wash was going to shoot him. It didn't matter to him anymore that he felt bad that Church had been left alone. He was grating on Wash's last nerve and it didn't help that Church's voice was familiar and he wasn't able to put his finger on just where he knew it from.

 

"Oh, come on, Church!" Caboose chirped before he gasped at an idea he had just come up with, "I know what will make you happy! We can sing songs while we sit around the fire! Just like a real camping trip! It will be so awesome!"

 

 _Oh God, if they start singing Kumbaya, I'm going to shoot myself,_ Wash thought horrified at Caboose's suggestion. Church looked just the same as he did at the idea of singing campfire songs. Kai though, she was the one that worried him the most. She actually looked like she was considering doing it. No way, he was not going to let that happen.

 

Wash stood up and grabbed his assault rifle. Caboose and Kai weren't phased by this since Caboose really didn't understand what was going on around him most of the time and Kai had seen him do this same action the night before. Church on the other hand looked like he didn't know if he wanted Wash to shoot him and put him out of his misery or if he wanted to dive behind the tree so that it could protect him from the Freelancer. Wash took a deep breath and then turned to Kai.

 

"Grab your helmet, Kai. We're going on patrol," he told her and then turned and walked into the woods behind him. He heard Kai let out shriek of excitement and the sound of her moving quickly so that she could catch up to him.

 

"Wait! You can't fucking leave me here with Caboose!"

 

"I just did. Have fun bonding after your year long separation. I'm sure you two have plenty to talk about," he called over his shoulder as he continued walking farther away from their camp site. Church's incomprehensible screaming followed them but was soon overpowered by Kai's laughter.

 

"The score is now Agent Hottie: 2, Church: 0," Kai crowed happily before her demeanor shifted, "Sooo.... does this mean you're taking me up on that offer for a quickie?"

 

Wash decided to once again brush that comment off. It was getting really difficult for him to tell if this was her version of flirting with him or not and he really didn't want to think about it. He needed to put distance between them soon because he wasn't going to be around for much longer, and if he let her too close, then she would be devastated when he was gone instead of just hurt and upset. That wasn't something that he wanted for any of them. He didn't want any of them to think of him as a friend or more than that even because losing a friend hurt and in the end they were going to lose him.

 

"Your bitter and angry at them for leaving you behind," he didn't bother to be gentle about prodding the wound that she clearly had, "I know it hurts, Kai. It hurts almost as bad as having a friend or someone you love die. But you need to let this go or it will consume you and eat you alive from the inside out. And when it does, you'll do the one thing that you're so bitter and angry about; you'll push everyone away and then you'll be alone all over again."

 

He stopped when he heard Kai's sharp inhale and the hiss of her helmet seal releasing. Wash turned to face her and noticed the tears running down her face. His instinct was to offer her comfort but he couldn't. He needed to keep his walls as high as possible, even though he had subtly hinted about what was going to happen. He just hoped that she didn't pick up on that part like she seemed to pick up on everything else.

 

"I'm trying. It's just hard to have to be around them. Caboose doesn't understand what happened to us so I can't talk to him about it. And Church was mostly okay with being alone. He doesn't care about any of us. The only person he cares about is Tex and we don't even know what happened to her, so I can't talk to her either. Tucker got shipped out with Donut so he isn't even alone. That stupid old guy had his fucking robot and my brother got shipped out with his best friend. I didn't have anyone!"

 

And there it was, she was far worse than he thought she was. There was still time to help her though and he had the chance to do one _good_ thing before he was gone. Against his better judgement and against everything he told himself that he couldn't do; Wash pulled Kai into his arms and let her cry. Maybe this was what she needed more than anything else. To get everything that she felt about her situation off her chest and if this stopped her from becoming like him, then he could do this one thing for her before he threw his walls back up with full force.

 

"I know you still feel like you're alone, Kai, but look at where you are. You're not alone anymore and your team does care about you. It may not seem like it now, but if something happened to you, they would kill the person that hurt you. So don't push them away anymore, alright?"

 

"I-I think I needed this. I think I needed someone to talk to and understand how I felt. I think I'll be okay now, I don't feel as angry as I did earlier," she told him as she pulled away from him and wiped the tears from her face, "Thanks for this, Wash. And you know, if you ever need anything, and I mean _anything_ , just let me know." She winked at him before putting her helmet back on. Wash just let out a quiet long suffering sigh because he knew that no matter what, Kai was going to keep hitting on him.

 

"Just go back to camp and get some sleep. And try not to kill those two, for some unfathomable reason, I need them alive."

 

"You got it, Agent Hottie!" Kai saluted and then started heading back to the camp site before she paused and looked at him over her shoulder, "By the way, I added another reason to that list I'm working on."

 

He watched Kai heavily sway her hips as she walked away and the sound of her giggle followed her as well. This time, Wash didn't even bother to hold his reaction back as his hand flew up and smacked his helmet where his forehead was located. How could Kai want to have sex with him if she had never seen him without his helmet on!?

 

This made him think back to a conversation that York and South had before everything fell apart. He remembered South saying that she would never fuck an ugly guy or girl and York had told her that she could if she wanted to, that all she had to do was put a bag over their head.

 

Maybe that's how things worked with Kai too. Then again, he really didn't care about Kai's sex life so he did what he usually does when the topic comes up; he brushed it off and went back to patrolling.

 

Of course that didn't stop her for continuing to hit on him and by now he figured she never would. Especially after she wolf whistled at him when he bent over to shake Caboose awake.

 

 _I know I've done a lot of bad things in my life, but this has got to be the worst punishment you can give a person,_ he thought as he once again toyed with the idea of shooting himself. No campfire songs needed for this one.


	6. Reconstruction: Omitting Information In Order To Get Revenge On Someone For Being A Smart Ass Is Completely Okay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you guys are absolutely awesome. I honestly didn't expect this story get this much of a reception because of the pairing. And to show how much I really appreciate you guys for even just leaving a Kudos, I've decided that I'm going to post another chapter today and tomorrow before going back to posting every other day.
> 
> I'm not the greatest judge of distance and I did a lot of guess work in this chapter. This story is actually the first time I've ever wrote any sort of action scene also, so if they suck, I'm sorry about that. Other than that. I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

Never in his life did Wash wish for his life to just be over already. If he didn't have such a burning hatred for everything that Project Freelancer had done, he would have just shot himself already. In a very, _very_ fatal way. Or he could just get all of the information that he could possibly need from Church and then just shoot him instead. It's not like Kai would tell anyone. Caboose on the other hand could be a problem though.

 

This morning Wash had noticed that the Meta wasn't following them for some reason. That fact had made him a little wary because he had no idea what the Meta was doing at the moment. Or even _who_ the Meta had found. Never the less, he took that opportunity to tell the others about the Meta.

 

As usual, Caboose didn't understand anything that he said really but he did understand that the Meta was a 'very, very mean person'. Church voted to start a fanclub for the Meta because it was killing Freelancers. And Kai finally understood just why he had told her to not go looking for it.

 

He even told them just why the Meta was so dangerous. That it was taking the AI from the Freelancers and that it was taking their armor enhancements. The only reason Wash had even told them about that is because he wanted Kai to understand exactly what he had pulled her into when he decided to bring her with him. She needed to know that the only reason she was even in danger now was because of him.

 

He knew that Kai understood everything that he hadn't said directly to her. That this was his fault and that she could walk away from this at any time and that he would be okay with it if she did. And one of these days, he was going to stop being surprised by her decisions. Instead of leaving like he thought she would, Kai had just asked how much longer it was going to take to get to Outpost 17B. If he was being honest with himself, he was kind of glad that she was staying. She was much more tolerable than Church and Caboose.

 

Speaking of Church, Wash had finally figured out just why his voice was so familiar. It took him some digging through his memories -the ones Epsilon had left him- to finally come up with the answer. Church was the Alpha AI and he didn't even know it because he had split off his own memories in order to survive. There were now more options to his plan but it all depended on him getting Church to go along with it.

 

Wash was dragged from his planning by the sound of Church and Caboose arguing once again. And this is why he really wished that he could just end it and be done with this bullshit already. They had been doing this all. Fucking. Day. It was a good thing that they were almost there. Only about 10 more minutes of walking and he could just go back to focusing on the matter at hand. Somehow though, he was going to get some sort of revenge on Church for being such a loud smart ass.

 

And if Wash had been paying more attention to what was going on around him, he would have easily noticed when Kai slowed down just enough so that she was now walking behind him. He also wouldn't have been so surprised by her once again wolf whistling at him.

 

"Damn! You work that ass Agent Hottie!" He really should have seen that one coming after this morning.

 

Lucky for him, he didn't even have to acknowledge her sentiment because they were finally at Outpost 17. There really must be a God and Wash was thanking that God profusely for saving him from that situation. And then he was cursing that same God because Outpost 17 was barricaded off and there were soldiers all over the place. Which meant that his job was just about to get a lot more difficult. Lovely.

 

"Stay here," he told Kai, Caboose, and Church when they reached the Red Base entrance, "I have to go deal with them before we can get anywhere."

 

"Yes, Sir, Agent Hottie!" Kai saluted him and Wash just sighed and walked over to the soldiers standing by the barricades.

 

"Stop right there! No one is allowed into or near the crash site!" One of the soldiers called out when he got closer. Wash didn't bother to stop until he was standing in front of the man.

 

"I'm here to investigate the crash site," Wash told him.

 

"Sorry, Sir, those are my orders. No one can approach the crash site. You can't come in, sorry."

 

"I need to see that ship, check my clearance if you need to," he retorted, thinking that maybe the man would actually do what he told him to.

 

"I know, Sir, but it won't matter, they said I can't let anybody in... anybody."

 

"I have orders from Command, Private," dear God did he hate dealing with idiots.

 

"So do I, these came from the Director himself," he took it back, he really hated the Director. The man paused for a second before looking off to the side like he saw a solution to the problem, "Look, Sir, I'd like to help you, I really would but this investigation thing, apparently they've started talking to people within the recovery force. Now everything's getting locked down. You get Command to call me and tell me different, I can let you in. Until then, there's nothing I can do. You can use Red Base if you wanna make some calls, that facility has already been swept."

 

"Fine, I understand," really he did. He understood just fine that the man was a fucking idiot. Wash _was_ part of the fucking recovery force. He also understood that the Director was a fucking jackass for having these orders sent to him and then preventing him for completing them. God, he was frustrated.

 

So to keep from beating the man to death, Wash just turned around and headed back to the entrance to Red Base. Caboose, Kai, and Church were waiting to hear what had happened. And he really wasn't looking forward to dealing with the lip that Church was going to give him after he just got done dealing with that fucking moron.

 

"We have a problem," he told them.

 

"I hope it isn't a math problem..." Caboose interjected.

 

"Like what?" Kai asked.

 

"They've got the crash site locked down," he answered.

 

"Oh great. We couldn't have found that out on the radio? We had to walk here?" And of course Church had to bitch about it.

 

"They said we could use this base if we want," Wash was planning to use the base alright. He knew exactly what to do to get passed the guards.

 

"Wow, the empty concrete base? Is it our birthday?" Yeah, Wash really had a plan now for shutting up that snarky little bitch. Kai looked ready to deck Church for how he was talking to Wash. He subtly shook his head at her.

 

"I want cake," Caboose added.

 

"Can we find somewhere nicer to hang out? Hey, maybe there's like a cool nightclub nearby that you can't get us into either. That would be awesome," Wash changed his mind and nodded at Kai, signaling that she could go ahead and deck Church now. Which she did. And hard from the way that Church was thrown off balance, "What the fuck!?"

 

"Shut up bitch! Wash knows what he's fucking doing!"

 

"You and Caboose stay here. Kai and I will go draw off the guards. When I give you the signal, use that grav lift," he told them. Kai just nodded.

 

"The what? How do we use it? And why the fuck are you taking Sister with you?" Church asked. Oh, this was going to be the greatest revenge ever. Of all time.

 

"Just step into it, it'll do the rest. And I'm taking Kai with me because I know that she's capable of helping me. Unlike you two. Just meet us at the ship," he told them and then walked off with Kai behind him. He could hear Church asking what the signal was, but he figured it would be more fun if he didn't answer him.

 

Wash gave Kai the signal to sneak around the other side of the canyon, to which she just nodded -thank God she knew stealth tactics- and quickly crept around the guard while he was facing away from her. He made sure that she made it into cover before he started off himself.

 

His side was going to be a little harder to navigate through due to there being less cover than the side that he sent Kai. There were a few large boulders from what he could tell but that was about it. Wash quickly rolled behind the nearest one and then peaked around both sides to check the guard positioning. They were all facing away from him but he knew that could easily change and his next cover was about 50 or so feet away. He would have to be quick.

 

Wash made one more check of both sides and then quickly and quietly darted out of his cover. He moved along the canyon wall until he was close enough to his next cover. Once he made it, he pressed his back against to boulder and scoped out the distance to the next cover. It would put him right beside the Blue Base which had two guards at the entrance facing the river. That would be where he would cause his distraction. His biggest problem at the moment was that his next cover was over 100 feet away.

 

He took a few deep breaths to prepare himself before checking each side of his cover. Once more he was off. He stuck close to the canyon wall and prayed to every God imaginable that his luck would hold out just a little longer. 70 feet... 80 feet... 90 feet. Shit. One of the guards looked like he was turning around to face his direction. Wash kept moving. He was so close. And then the second guard said something to the one that was turning around. His attention was held just long enough for Wash to make it behind the boulder and out of sight.

 

He took a few minutes to collect himself after his near miss with the guard. After that he focused on his next goal. 35 feet away was the area where he was going to cause his distraction. And that was when his radio clicked.

 

_"Come in Agent Hottie. I've made it to the ship. What do you want me to do now?"_ Thank God it wasn't Command calling him.

 

"Just sit tight. I'm about to cause the distraction and then I'll bring the idiots with me over to the ship. But if you want to, see if you can find the access panel on the outside of the ship. According to all the stories that Caboose has been telling, they moved some sort of program into the ship."

 

_"Oh, you mean Sheila? She was the tank back in Blood Gulch. She had an awesome sense of humor. They moved her into the ship because she was malfunctioning and threatening Church. That was fucking great."_

 

"So that means that the program was the one running the functions in the ship. Including recording the flight logs. I'm willing to bet that they have no idea that that program is even there, which means that they haven't tried to access it."

 

_"Yeah, fair warning hon, don't call her an it or a program around Caboose. I'm pretty sure that he had some sort of weird crush on her or something and he might shoot your sexy ass for treating Sheila like a thing..."_

 

"Thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Oh, and don't forget to watch the show. Just make sure that no one hears you laughing. Washington out," he said and then disconnected the link.

 

Wash checked around his cover again and then quickly moved toward the back of Blue Base. He made it there easily this time and then set a couple of charges on one of the Warthogs. Wash then took off and hid behind the nearby trees before detonating the charges. The resulting explosion was pretty spectacular and drew the attention of everyone in the area. It also set off the alarms as a bonus.

 

With no one in the area, it was easy for Wash to get to cover behind the boulders by the entrance to Blue Base. It was also the perfect spot for him to watch the show. He connected his comms to Church's, gave the all clear to him, and then looked at the sky in the direction of Red Base.

 

Just as he had predicted, Church was flung haphazardly through the air. About half way across the canyon, Church hit the ground and bounced a few feet before hitting the ground again and bouncing a few more feet, hitting the ground and then bouncing into the stream which for some reason he was able to bounce out of, continuing the pattern of hitting the ground and bouncing a few more feet one final time where he came to stop against a Warthog.

 

Wash quietly chucked to himself the whole time and just managed to get himself under control when he heard Church complaining about how that was fucking bullshit. He waited for Church to make it to his cover before commenting, "Maybe next time you feel like being a smart ass, you'll remember this and keep quite."

 

"You did that on purpose!?" Church shrieked at him. Surprisingly, none of the guards paid any attention to that and they continued to be unnoticed. Now they were just waiting on Caboose while Wash ignored Church.

 

"I didn't know you could fly, Church. You will have to teach me how you do that," Caboose spoke up for behind them. And how the fuck did he even do that!?

 

"Whe- How did you- You know what, I don't even want to know," Church stuttered out at Caboose's appearance.

 

Wash looked around and noticed that the area all the way to the ship was heavily shaded and that the guards were now on high alert from the explosion that he had caused. He told the other two to follow him and stay out of sight as they ducked behind the trees when a tank passed. They were right by the ship now and he could see Kai there waiting for them, the access panel for the ship already off.

 

"Fucking took you long enough. I'm gonna guess that that was Church's fault though. Last time I saw someone crash and burn that bad, they were tippin' on LSD," Kai greeted them.

 

"Shut the fuck up," Church spat at her. She just gave him the middle finger in return.

 

"Nice work finding the access panel," he said to cut off the argument that he knew was about to happen.

 

"Thank you, I try. Oh, and the list grew again, Agent Hottie," and somehow he just knew that she was winking at him from behind her visor.

 

"Sheila? Sheila! Are you okay?" Caboose asked the ship. Wash just shook his head and didn't comment on the spectacle, especially after Kai's warning.

 

Wash pressed the button that would activate 'Sheila' and was immediately met with a distorted female voice that was cutting in and out from power loss and damage.

 

_"...ello, and thank you for activating the... wait, where am I?"_

 

"Sheila?" Caboose asked again.

 

The ships program sounded like FILSS and Wash decided that it would probably be his best bet to treat it like he had treated her.

 

"Could you run a full diagnostic, and load the logs from your last flight please?"

 

_"Affirmative. Except... exception. This system has taken... taken damage. I am function... I am functioning at minimum capacity.. city... city"_

 

"If you are able to, can you override exception please and play the logs from the crash?"

 

_"Beginni.. beginning play... playback."_

 

The sound of alarms blaring played through the speakers and Wash focused fully on the ship as he listened to the playback.

 

_"Warning, warning, system failure!"_  
_"Sheila! Damage report, now!"_  
_"Rear stabilizer offline... navigation offline... and my system clock does not match interior records."_  
_"Did Gamma get loose!?"_  
_"Negative, but I do not know how much longer I can contain him."_  
_"Computer, what about there? In the canyon? Can we land?"_  
_"Analyzing data."_  
_"Just tell me! Can you get us there?"_  
_"I am unable to calculate-"_  
_"Sheila! Give me manual controls, now!"_  
_"Acknowledged, manual controls activated. Warning, decompression, rear doors open."_  
_"What? Where are they going!? Close the hatch!"_  
_"Rear doors open."_  
_"Wait!"_  
_"Acknowledged... warning-"_  
_"What happened to-"_  
_"-altitude critical... brace for impact, brace for impact-"_  
_"Hold on everyone! Hold on! Everybody, just hold o-"_

 

The white noise sound rung out as the file cut off and the screen showed the words _END OF FILE_. Wash wasn't really sure how to feel after listening to the playback. He had never been close to Texas during the Project. She was always so close to the Director and by the time she started to warm up to them a little, he had had his implantation and by the time he woke up she was already rogue.

 

The others were quite. He was pretty sure that Caboose didn't understand what had happened. And that made him feel even worse than he already did because he knew Caboose wasn't like this on purpose. The Project had created the AIs and one of them did this to him. Church was more than likely in denial about Texas being gone but there was a high probability that the Meta got her. And much like the Director, Wash knew that Church wouldn't be able to let it go. Let _her_ go. Kai was the most expressive. Her head was lowered and he could hear sniffles coming from her, a clear indication that she was crying.

 

There was nothing he could do for any of them. This wasn't something that Wash could fix by saying some magic words or by telling them that it would be alright. Because it wouldn't be alright. Not now and not ever. And he knew it was heartless, but they needed to keep going. _He_ needed to keep going. He had to make the Project pay for lives that they've ruined.

 

"And then the ship crashed here. And from what a survivor told us, the Blues got here first and offloaded the bodies," he winced from just how callous his words were, "and equipment. Then they started getting infected by the Omega AI. He said their men started acting erratically and for some reason they destroyed all their radios and their own Comm Tower."

 

"Yeah definitely Omega," Church informed him.

 

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you had almost exactly the same experience that they did. That means it all adds up then. Omega was the one who inherited that trait. During training they discovered that he could move from suit to suit. For some reason, he preferred Agent Texas. They tried to reassign him, but he always made his way back to her somehow."

 

"So where's your AI?" Church asked.

 

Wash tensed as the memories started to flood through him. The implant, the Director refusing to remove Epsilon, being sedated, waking up screaming in the recovery ward every night, Epsilon falling silent for a couple of days, talking to North and South, the alarms blaring, finding out that they lied about taking Epsilon out -they never did until it was too late-, being trapped in the recovery ward after the ship crash and listening to Epsilon apologize - _I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry_ \- just before he unraveled in his mind, pain, screaming, clawing at his neck to try and get Epsilon out, being found and sedated by the medics that survived the crash, and then waking up in a psych ward with no idea who he even was anymore.

 

"I don't have one anymore," Wash told them coldly hoping that they would pick up on the fact that he didn't want to talk about it. Ever, "It's a long story and it's the reason why they gave me this job. And now, I'm done talking about it."

 

"I knew I'd heard your name before! Your the one that went nuts, aren't you?" Church ignored Wash's warning to drop it. And right then, all Wash wanted was beat to him to death for not letting the subject go.

 

" _I_ didn't do anything. My AI did. Now drop it," he hissed and walked to the edge of the ship, he checked for guards and then quickly made his way back to the other side of the barricade.

 

He heard three sets of footsteps come up behind him and he knew that they had followed him out even though he just wanted to be alone so that he could push back the wave of memories that were assaulting him. Wash turned to face them so that he could tell them to fuck off and leave him alone. The first thing he saw was Caboose and Church looking at each other, as if they were unsure what to do. The next thing he saw was bright Yellow armor filling his vision as Kai all but jumped at him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him into a tight hug.

 

She knew that something was wrong. She always did and this was her way of trying to make him feel better. Her way of letting him know that he wasn't alone anymore either. And that was a problem. He was letting her get to close and that couldn't happen because he needed to finish this. He knew that if she got any closer, he would never go through with his plan for her sake because he didn't want to destroy anyone else.

 

A loud beeping sound cut the moment short and Kai let go of him. Church and Caboose looked at him because the sound was coming from his armor. And then his radio connected him to Command which meant that they were calling him. And he knew why they were. The Meta had found someone.

 

_"Recovery Command calling Recovery One, Level Zero."_

 

"I have you, Command, Level Zero. Go ahead."

 

_"We have a beacon, Wash... pulling the data now. Stand by for ID and co-ordinates."_

 

"I received it here too... standing by."

 

"What was that?" Church asked.

 

"That was my recovery beacon. It means an AI somewhere is in jeopardy, and I have to find it before the Meta does," he answered just in time for Command to come back online and tell him what he needed to know. He had a feeling that he already knew just who it was too. He'd been looking forward to seeing her again after their last meeting.

 

_"Co-ordinates locked, transmitting now."_

 

"Receiving co-ordinates for recovery target, do we have an ID?" Not like he didn't already know who it was.

 

_"Affirmative, it's from the AI Delta and-"_

 

"Agent South," looks like his day might just end on a high note after all.

 

_"Roger that, Agent South Dakota. Vital reports look bad, yeah, she's in trouble, Wash."_

 

"Yes," he paused, "Yes she is."

 

_"I don't think she'll be able to hold out for long. Get moving, Wash. Recovery Command out."_

 

"Agent Washington out," he finished and the sound of the call ending spurred him into motion.

 

Wash hopped into one of the jeeps that was located by Red Base and told the others to get in because they needed to move now. After all, he wouldn't want to miss a chance to see an old _friend_ , now would he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's be honest, everyone has their own idea of what happened between Wash and Epsilon. Mine is that they never took Epsilon out until after the crash because otherwise, how does Wash go from being just fine while talking to North and South after they pulled Epsilon to Article Twelve and in a psych ward after the crash?


	7. Reconstruction: Admitting You Have A Problem Is The Second Step, The First Step Is Letting Someone Goad You Into Admitting It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first actual action scene. Chances are that it is terrible but I tried. Even if it sucks, I hope you enjoy the rest of the chapter at least.

The drive back to Church's base was mostly silent after he had answered all of their questions. During that silence, Wash had had plenty of time to think. He thought about his plan, he thought about just how good he was going to feel after paying back South, and he thought about how this current situation was exactly what he needed to create distance between himself and the other three.

 

Or at least he hoped it would. His luck only held out about 50 percent of the time and after Outpost 17B, he was due for a failure. He just didn't want it to be when he was dealing with South. She was the reason he initially decided that he couldn't work with a partner and she deserved what was coming to her. Even if it made him into some sort of monster in the eyes of Kai, Caboose, and Church.

 

_Guess now is the moment of truth. Time to see how this all plays out,_ he thought he steered the jeep around the corner, Church's base coming into view. They arrived just in time to see the Domed Energy Shield that Delta was running drop as South threw a grenade at the Meta.

 

"There they are!" He yelled in order to draw both the Meta and South's attention to them. If he could have pressed the gas pedal any further down, he would have. Seeing as he couldn't, he just continued to close the distance between them as fast as he could, "You three, bail out now! Don't let it get near her!"

 

Kai, Church and Caboose all jumped out and rolled a few feet before getting back to their feet. Wash just drove the jeep straight at the Meta before standing in a crouch on the seat. He jerked the wheel hard to the left so that the vehicles passenger side door was facing the Meta before he dove out of the vehicle. The Meta shot a grenade at the jeep, stopping it from actually touching it.

 

"Don't let her get away!" He called to Church and Caboose since they were closest to South. Kai peered around the cover that she was using and fired three rounds from her pistol at the Meta in order to cover Wash as he re-orientated himself from bailing out.

 

He took cover behind the trees on the other side of the path, across from Kai. He heard the rifle fire hitting Kai's cover and took the opportunity to lean slightly out and fire his assault rifle at the Meta.

 

"Her!? Isn't she a Freelancer like you!?" Church asked from his and Caboose's cover which was located closer to his base and at slightly higher elevation than both Wash's and Kai's. Wash also noticed that neither of them were helping with the Meta which was why Church even had time to ask questions instead of doing what Wash fucking told him to do.

 

The Meta paused it's assault on them and turned it's head to watch South as she made a break for it. She was heading up the dirt ramp that lead to the hole in the wall of Church's base. Wash knew that if she made it in there, she would be able to find a way to escape and he wasn't about to let that happen. He had a score to settle with her.

 

"Yeah! Just don't let her leave," he yelled before opening fire at the Meta once more, trying to keep it's attention on them. It wasn't working, instead the Meta had turned it's attention on Church and Caboose's cover and started firing grenades at the concrete walling.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Wash saw Kai reload her pistol before shooting at the Meta once more. All of her shots managed to hit the Meta's overshield. This was good because if they kept at it, they could damage the shield and land actual hits on it. He ducked behind his cover and reloaded his assault rifle before leaning out and opening fire again.

 

He couldn't see South at the moment but he did hear her yelling in pain and swearing. That meant that she probably wasn't going anywhere for a while. Good, "Kai! Move up to Church and Caboose's position!"

 

Kai gave an affirmative and then dove out of her cover, she tucked into a roll behind Wash's cover and stood up. Wash continued to fire at the Meta in order to cover Kai. Instead of waiting for her to decide if it was safe to move up, Wash paused his assault on the Meta and pushed Kai forward up the very slight hill. The second he was out of cover, Wash opened fire on the Meta one handed, his other hand was placed against Kai's back, urging her to keep going. When they made it to the large boulder just before their destination, he removed his hand and told her to go while he crouched down and pulled the pin out of a grenade that he was carrying. He stopped firing long enough to throw it at the Meta and then immediately went back to firing.

 

Wash could tell that the Meta was getting pissed at them. Kai had gone back to firing on the Meta when she reached Church and Caboose, and adding that with Wash's own assault, the Meta's shield must be close to failing. And he was right, because that was when the Meta activated Texas' invisibility armor enhancement, "Damn it! It's gone invisible, keep an eye on your motion trackers and watch your perimeters! Look for a shimmer!"

 

"It can turn invisible!?" Church asked and he really just wished that Church would just shut up so that he could concentrate on finding the Meta.

 

"It probably stole Agent Texas' Cloaking Unit from the crash site," he answered, still frantically searching for the shimmer that would give the Meta away. They were sitting ducks right now and it would be easy for the Meta to pick them all off.

 

"Wait a second... Shit! Wyoming!" Wash was confused for a minute on just what Wyoming had to do with any of this, until he remembered that the man hadn't been heard from in a while. Which meant that there was a good chance that the Meta had gotten both Wyoming and the Gamma AI. Not to mention Wyoming's armor enhancement, the Temporal Distortion Unit. Fuck.

 

Just as he reached that conclusion. Kai opened fire, she had found the Meta. Wash fired at the same spot and watched as the Cloaking Unit flickered and then failed. They kept firing until the Meta's armor sparked. And then Wash blinked and the Meta was gone, it must have used the Temporal Distortion Unit to escape.

 

"It used Wyoming's stupid time thing to escape," Church muttered and Wash was tempted to ask just how he even knew that Wyoming had the Temporal Distortion Unit, but he really didn't want to put up with Church's snark so he figured that he could just ask Kai later. She might know.

 

The sound of South groaning in pain drew his attention. If South had stayed quiet a little longer, Wash would have made sure that everyone was alright before dealing with her. But the verbal reminder of her presence push his anger at her back to the front of his mind. It was time to finish things with her.

 

"Delta! Are you here?" He called as he ran to where South was.

 

_"Affirmative. I am undamaged. However, Agent South is seriously wounded. May I suggest moving me to a new host?"_

 

"Roger that. I don't trust her anyway," he turned to Caboose and Church, "One of you two take him."

 

Kai was still back at the bunker that they had been using for some reason. She was looking out at the road that brought them here, possibly to make sure that the Meta didn't change it's mind and come back for them. He was actually happy that she wasn't with them at the moment because he liked her the most out of the three of them and there was no way that he was going to let her take the Delta AI.

 

"Um, I don't think I can-" Church started only to be cut off by Caboose.

 

"I'll do it! I like meeting new people," Wash watched as Caboose knelt next to South and removed Delta from South's implants and then place him in his own. South's breathing was labored and she let out a few coughs, at that moment Kai had decided that it was safe enough to join them and placed herself next to Wash on his left side.

 

"Delta, what happened?" He asked and Delta flickered into existence, hovering in the air next to Caboose's left arm.

 

_"I agree with the Simulation Trooper. The Meta has most likely acquired both the Temporal Distortion Unit, and an AI capable of running it. In this case, Gamma."_

 

"I already figured that one out, Delta. Just like I know that the only reason it didn't kill us is because Kai and I managed to heavily damage it's overshield."

 

"What the fuck!? Why do you two get all the credit!?" Church yelled with disbelief.

 

"That's 'cause you two didn't do shit! Wash and I are the only ones that actually attacked it. You two just hid in your bunker!" Kai retorted. He could tell that she was a little pissed that they didn't do anything to help.

 

_"I think we should simply be happy that it is gone."_

 

_Thank you Delta, for circumventing that argument,_ he thought. Wash knew very well that Kai would have decked Church again if the argument had gone any farther. And right now, he didn't have time to break up a fight. He still had to deal with South.

 

"Makes sense to me," because of course it would. Delta was Alpha's logic fragment after all. Church would agree with anything that Delta told him.

 

"I also agree with the glowing person," Caboose paused, "Everyone else sees a glowing person, right?"

 

_"It is possible that the Meta has retreated in order to repair itself."_

 

"Guess this means that we'll just have to find it before it can. We might stand a chance of beating it if we do," now he just needed to think of a place nearby that the Meta might go to in order to recharge.

 

"Well I guess that means we should stop hanging around here then," Wash would have agreed with Church about that statement in just about any other situation, but not this time.

 

"I can't- I can't walk on my own," South said as she tried to stand up. Her assault rifle was also lying on the ground about 10 feet from where she landed.

 

"And tell me South, just why should I help _you_?" He glared at her from behind his visor and kicked her pistol out of her reach. Best not to tempt fate again.

 

"Whoa. That's kinda cold dude. Aren't you guys supposed to be like, friends or something?" Church asked. Wash let out a cold laugh at that.

 

" _Friends_? No, South and I are as far from friends as you can get at this point," he seethed, "Isn't that right, South? Or do you want me to hand you my pistol so that you can prove me right?"

 

"Still sore about that, Wash? Maybe you should go cry in a corner about it!" South bit out.

 

"And you wouldn't be if you were in my position? Are you seriously trying to tell me that you wouldn't be even a little bit pissed off if I had shot you in the back and left you to the Meta after you tried to help me!? I have every right to be fucking pissed! I faked your death to get you off of Command's radar and then I gave you Delta! The only thing I asked you to do, was to help me take down the Meta!" Wash raged at her, his breathing labored from yelling and his fists were clenched. Kai placed her hand on his shoulder to try and calm him but it wasn't working. He was far too angry to let it go.

 

"I was trying to survive! Something that you seem to have forgotten how to do after they gave you Epsilon! I never even had a chance to get an AI until I got Delta! They started to remove them after your spectacular failure!" She screamed at him.

 

" _Remove them_?" He laughed bitterly at her accusation, "They fucking lied! Want to know how I know that!? It's because Epsilon unraveled in my head while I was trapped in the recovery room _after_ the ship crashed! All of you got to escape while I was trapped and trying to claw out my implants in order to stop Epsilon from tearing my fucking brain apart! Do you have any idea what it's like to wake up and not have any idea who you're supposed to be!? Which memories are yours and which ones aren't!? I had to put myself back together because no one would help me! And none of you ever came back for me!"

 

Wash froze as he realized what he had just admitted in front of them. An icy feeling swept through him and he did the first thing that he could think of; he jerked his shoulder out of Kai's grip and ran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've decided to incorporate one of Wash's lesser used character traits; his anger. It's how he ended up in Freelancer to begin with and we see it displayed a few times throughout the series but it seems to become almost nonexistent after the Recollection Arc. I feel as though his anger should have been a little more prominent during his confrontation with South.


	8. Reconstruction: They Say You Can't Get Any Lower Than Rock Bottom, That's Bullshit, You Can Always Get A Pick Axe And Keep Going

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Paragraphing might be a little off in one area but I tried my best. As always, I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

By the time he had stopped running, Wash was three miles away from Church's base. He leaned against one of the trees that he had stopped near and yanked his helmet off before throwing it down at the road. He watched as it bounced a few times before it finally came to a stop in long grass that ran along the opposite side of the road from him. He threaded one of his hands into his hair as his slid down the tree into a sitting position.

 

He had fucked up. He had fucked up _really_ bad this time. No one was ever supposed to know what Epsilon did. No one was ever supposed to know that he had even the slightest idea of what Project Freelancer did. Worse than that, South could use that information to save herself and then his whole plan would be shot. And it was all because he couldn't keep his anger under control. He just had to open his fucking mouth, didn't he?

 

Maybe that was why Epsilon self destructed in the first place. Maybe it was because he knew that Wash would let his anger get the best of him and then blurt out everything that he knew. Hell, maybe Wash would have done the same thing in Epsilon's place if he had been given to a person prone to letting their anger get the best of them. Maybe he still should. He had only made things worse for himself after all.

 

At this point, he was pretty sure that the Director was suspicious of his actions after the reports that he had received about him from the Counselor. In fact, Wash was sure that the man had been suspicious of him ever since they implanted Epsilon. He vaguely remembered hearing the Director say that he wanted to talk to him after they had sedated him in the surgery room. He never got the chance though because Epsilon had caused too many problems and then when he was lucid enough, the ship ended up under attack, followed rapidly by Epsilon self destructing and taking Wash with him.

 

Wash slid his hand from his hair before pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to think of a way out of the mess that he had gotten himself into. There was nothing and he was probably placed as rogue now on top of everything. He really should have shot that fucking bitch before he took off but he had been too panicked by what he had said.

 

Maybe he could settle for killing the Meta and then sneaking into Freelancer Command to set off the E.M.P. He could still finish this even if he was rogue at this point. He just needed to find a nearby energy station with his datapad and go from there. And he would do this by himself.

 

It was probably better this way even. No one would get any closer to him and he could still finish this. It would be a clean break for the others. Alpha would survive, Caboose could keep Delta and be his friend, and Kai would still have her team and not lose any of them. This could work. It had to work. If it didn't then they would all continue to suffer and he couldn't let that happen.

 

Wash pulled out his datapad and began searching every building and base in the area that the Meta could use to recharge. After a few minutes, he found a nearby power plant called 'Zanzibar'. It was about 45 minutes away by foot and the Meta had a half hour head start on him. He would have to alternate between running and walking in order to cut down on the time.

 

He stood quickly and retrieved his helmet. He took off running as fast as he could in the direction of the power plant. He just hoped that he would make it there in time.

*

By running most of the way there, he managed to make it to the power plant in 25 minutes. Which meant that the Meta was only 10 minutes ahead of him. The dead bodies that greeted him also meant that the Meta had had to kill everyone in the base before it could get to the generator. Wash estimated that that had taken it about seven or eight minutes which meant that it wasn't at full power and he could still pull this off.

 

Wash quickly and quietly crept up the stairs and along the balcony until he could see the Meta standing in front of the generator. It's armor was still sparking so Wash guessed that it had only just finished hooking itself up. He pulled out one of the plasma grenades that he was carrying and activated it before throwing it at the Meta.

 

He opened fire and shot a few rounds at the Meta with his assault rifle, pausing just long enough to jump down from the balcony onto a metal walkway as the Meta fired a grenade from it's Brute Shot at him. He fired a few more rounds when he landed and then paused again when he jumped down onto the metal crate below the walkway. Just after he landed he jumped once more for the ground and threw another plasma grenade at the Meta. In mid jump, one of the Meta's grenades managed to hit him and Wash had never been more grateful for the overshield than in that moment. Even if it wasn't as powerful as the Meta's, it had still saved his ass.

 

The Meta continued to fire more grenades from it's Brute Shot. Once Wash landed he crouched lower and then began running at the Meta, all the while firing rounds from his assault rifle and doing his best to dodge the grenades. He shot one of the grenades that would have hit him and jumped back out of the way to avoid the blast. Smoke clouded his vision and Wash jumped to side as the Meta fired another grenade that hit the ground right where the flames were from the one that Wash had shot.

 

He took off running sideways while his torso was turned towards the Meta so that he could keep on firing at it. The Meta fired another couple of grenades at Wash and began to move towards him. Wash prepped his own grenade and threw it at the Meta. Sadly, it missed as the Meta dodged and it blew up the body of an already dead Red soldier. Wash went back to firing his assault rifle while the Meta fired two grenades consecutively and move closer to Wash. He jumped out of the way and dodged back towards the metal crate.

 

The Meta pushed off the ground, it's momentum carrying it backwards in the air, to avoid the shots that Wash was firing at it. While in the air, the Meta switched over to it's pistol and began firing at Wash the second it landed. It started to circle around him while still firing shots and Wash move a little closer, still firing as well. Wash dodged to the left to avoid a shot and then began circling as well.

 

The Meta gave up circling and just fired two shots at him as it advanced, pushing Wash back a few steps before causing him to switch directions. The change didn't slow the Meta down in the slightest and it continued to advance on Wash. Noticing what was going to happen, Wash switched to hand to hand and decided to close the rest of the distance between them and attack at close quarters. The Meta fired one more shot to try and stop him but Wash dodged by turning his body just enough for it to miss.

 

With the Meta in range now, Wash threw a punch that hit the Meta in the center of it's domed visor. The Meta was only thrown a little off balance and grabbed it's Brute Shot again while it recovered from the hit. Wash backed away a few steps to avoid the weapons blade and then pulled out his rifle once more since the Brute Shot would make it hard to continue with close quarter combat.

 

He put a little more distance between himself and the Meta and then opened fire on it. The Meta backed away a couple of steps and switched back to it's pistol and fired at him. Wash dodged and then began to advance again, the Meta fired once more before switching back to the Brute Shot. He didn't slow down and kept charging the Meta, firing a few shots from his rifle. At this point, the Meta had backed closer to the fencing that blocked access to the generator.

 

Wash circled around so that he was next to the fence while the Meta circled so that it was in front of Wash, leaving him with his back to the fence. Wash tried to circle away from the fence but the Meta charged him. He threw his arms up to try and block the hit that he knew was coming and failed as the blade cut across the armor on his chest. It actually managed to leave a gash in his armor. The blow was hard enough to throw him back into the fence and cause him to bounce forward so that he landed on his knees with the Meta standing next to him. In his dazed state, Wash didn't see the Meta raise it's Brute Shot and do a quick spin before nailing Wash in the side of the head with the rifle end of the weapon.

 

He heard the seals on his helmet loosen from the blow and the force sent Wash flying off to the side. Wash turned onto his stomach after he landed and tried to get back to his feet. When lowered his head a bit, his helmet fell of and bounced at couple of times, landing a few feet in front of him. As he raised his head to look at it, he heard the Meta's footsteps as it came closer to him. He raised his head fully and saw that the Meta was 15 feet away from where his helmet landed. Wash tried to get up again but couldn't, his head was spinning too much yet from the blow it took.

 

Wash glared coldly at the Meta. If he was going out then he was at least going to let the Meta know that he wasn't going willingly and that if he had had the strength to, he would keep fighting it. The Meta reached Wash's helmet and raised it's Brute Shot, ready to bring the blade down in order to behead him. Wash never let up on his cold, defiant glare keeping his eyes locked on where he knew the Meta's own eyes where. And wasn't this just the perfect way to go, killed by the thing that _used_ to be his best friend.

 

As the blade began it's decent, a shot rang out and a bullet sailed into the Meta's shoulder, pushing it back just enough so that the descending blade missed Wash completely. And the best part was that the Meta was bleeding from the wound in it's shoulder. That meant that it's shield was down. It could be killed now.

 

Wash turned his head to see just who had saved his ass. His eyes widened slightly in surprise when he saw bright Yellow armor and two different shades of Blue armor. He couldn't believe that they had followed him after what happened back at Church's base with South. But here they were. Saving his ass from his own terrible idea.

 

"Kai...," he whispered as she ran towards him. Her pistol still raised as she fired a couple more rounds at the Meta. The first missed but the second shot nailed the Meta in the side and it let out a snarl as it took off.

 

Kai continued to shoot at it until she ran out of ammo. When she did, she dropped her gun and turned to face Wash. She dropped to her knees at his side and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. She rested her head on his shoulder and her could feel her shaking slightly. Her breathing was shallow and he could hear sniffing that was muffled by her helmet. Kai was crying again. What surprised him the most though, was that he knew that she was crying because he almost died.

 

Wash slowly brought his arms up and wrapped them around Kai's waist, returning her hug. Her arms tightened a little around his neck and she cried harder. He rested his head against the side of her helmet, the cold metal reassuring him that he wasn't actually dead. He took a deep, quiet breath and closed his eyes as he breathed out. It was already too late to distance himself if this was how she reacted to him almost dying.

 

"Y-You Idi-idiot," she whispered, her words breaking from her sobs, "You fucking idiot!"

 

"Kai...," he didn't know what to say to her. He wasn't sure if he should apologize to her or explain why he did what he did.

 

"After- after everything that's happened, you think you can just- just run off and leave me!? That you can just go and- and get yourself killed!?" She cried out hysterically.

 

"Kai... I'm sorry, Kai. I didn't think that any of you would want anything to do with me after everything I said," he tried to explain.

 

That only caused Kai to release her hold on him and pull back slightly. Wash let his arms fall back to his sides just as Kai pulled her arm back before throwing it forward. Her clenched fist made contact with his shoulder and the force of her punch threw him off balance, causing him to fall sideways. He caught himself before he could hit the ground and pushed himself back into a sitting position.

 

Kai yanked her helmet off and locked eyes with him. He could see the fury in her emerald eyes and he knew that he deserved every bit of it. He could see the wet trails from her tears shimmering on her tanned skin. The ones that he had caused. And in that moment, Wash couldn't help but think that Kaikaina Grif was beautiful.

 

Kai just narrowed her eyes into a glare and punch him again. He was a little more prepared for it that time and managed to keep his balance, "I deserved that. Both times."

 

"Damn right you did! And you lost two points on my scale of how fuckable you are!" She yelled and Wash wasn't really sure how he felt about losing two points. He decided to ignore that for now as Kai continued, her voice going back to it's normal volume as she scrutinized his appearance, "But I'm adding five points because I was right. You're fucking hot!"

 

And just like that everything was back to normal between them. Wash gave a slight smile of amusement at her comment and reached over and grabbed his helmet, returning it to it's place on his head. Kai rolled her eyes did the same. Wash got back on his feet and offered Kai his hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. He let go once she was balanced and then turned to look over at Church and Caboose.

 

Funnily enough, both of them were looking anywhere but in their direction and Wash let out and amused chuckle. Kai's giggles echoed him a moment later when she looked at the two. Wash shook his head and walked over to the two, Kai following his lead.

 

"We should see if we can still catch the Meta. It's shields are down and it can be killed right now. We'll have to hurry though, otherwise it'll power up again and then we'll be back at square one," he told them.

 

"We wouldn't be having this fucking problem if you two weren't so busy awkwardly flirting with each other!" Church scoffed at them with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

 

"Bitch, who are you calling awkward!? I'm anything but and after this trip is over, I'll be fucking Agent Hottie against your bedroom door, while you're in your room! That'll show just how fucking awkward I am!" Kai retorted hotly.

 

"Okay then," Wash cut them off, "I think it's time we go find the Meta."

 

He turned and walked away from them, following the blood trail that the Meta had left from the wounds that Kai had given it. The trail lead all the way to the entrance of base and Wash paused, waiting for the others to catch up to him. Once they did, he told them to follow him quietly. They all nodded in agreement and walked out of the base.

 

A noise caught Wash's attention. He strained to hear what it was but couldn't tell quite yet. He wasn't even able to tell which direction it was coming from and that unnerved him a little. For all he knew, it could be the Meta targeting them.

 

"Do you guys hear something," he asked. Maybe one of them knew what it was or where it was coming from.

 

"No?" Church replied and then paused for second as they came to a stop on the beach, "Wait, yeah."

 

"Ugh. It sounds like music," Kai told them, "And not the good kind either."

 

"Kind of like the music the Reds play in the Boss Hog!" Caboose chirped.

 

"Oh no," Church said just as a Warthog came flying up the hill.

 

As it went airborne, Church grabbed Caboose and pulled him out of the way. Wash did the same for Kai but she ended up overbalancing and falling off to the side, bringing Wash down with her. Kai landed on her back and Wash was able to throw his arms out on either side of her to catch himself so that he wouldn't crush her. The end result was one _very_ compromising looking position.

 

"This is nice. We'll totally have to get back to this later, you know, after we deal with my idiot brother," Kai said. No that wasn't quite right. Flirted, that's what she was doing with him and Wash actually felt himself blush a little at her comment and their position.

 

He quickly push himself to his feet and pulled Kai to hers. They ran after the Warthog, back into base. The Reds were yelling a bunch of shit that Wash couldn't quite make out and they watched as the Warthog crashed into the windmill. Wash and Kai stopped running when they caught up to Caboose and Church who were just standing there watching the spectacle.

 

"Look Wash, I don't know how they found us, or why they're here, but we don't have anything to worry about," Church said as he turned around to face Wash and Kai, "Seriously, not a thing. These guys are idiots. They can't do anything right."

 

"Um," Wash started, he and Kai had been watching the windmill rotate, one of the thick steel blades lifting the damaged -but still functional- Warthog. By now it was sideways and still going, the turret end of the Warthog was facing them and it shifted to point at them, "We might wanna take cover."

 

"Yeah! Take it Blue!" The gunner yelled before opening fire at them. He could hear the man yelling other things as well but that really didn't matter at the moment.

 

Wash grabbed Kai by the elbow and practically dragged her with him as they all took off running for cover. He lead them to the left side of the windmill and into a doorway next to a set of stairs. Wash and Kai ducked off to the left side of the door while Church and Caboose took the right.

 

"I'm gonna kick his fucking ass!" Kai yelled and Wash assumed that she was talking about her brother. Right now, he'd be more than happy to help her too. Those assholes were fucking everything up. If they didn't find the Meta soon, it would be too late.

 

Sometime, Wash really, _really_ hated his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you all were wondering, I always imagined that Kai kind of looked like Tia Carrere back when she played Sydney Fox in Relic Hunter. Just with green eyes obviously.


	9. Reconstruction: If It's Not Dead, Shoot It A Few More Times, Usually That Fixes Everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I don't know a whole lot about Halo. I do know that Dr. Halsey created Cortana though. The part where she is mentioned is made up (unless it's actually true, that would be badass). I'll be putting a few more notes at the end because I don't want to put them up here and give things away. Also, this is a special chapter and the only one like it during the Reconstruction season. I hope you all enjoy it!

If there was one thing she knew for sure, it was that she was tired of always being left behind. First it was her dad and then her mom. When she was 16 years old her brother signed up for the military because he wasn't doing so well in his college classes. He said that the money would be for her because she needed it more than he did. That didn't mean that it hurt any less when he left two weeks later. So Kai kept going to school and saved most of the money that Dex sent her.

 

When she was 15, she thought she was in love with a really nice boy. Turns out that he wasn't really that nice and that he had just been using her. After he got what he wanted, he told everyone that she was a slut and then he moved away a week later, leaving her to deal with the aftermath of what he had done. Dex was pissed and threatened to go after him but she told him not to because she didn't want him to get in trouble.

 

After a while, all the harassment got to be too much and she finally just gave into all the pressure. So she started sleeping around because it made her feel like someone wanted her. They never did though. Dex was pissed when he found out and things between them got a little strained.

 

When she turned 17, Kai decided that she was going to join the military and find her brother. She was just tired of having to act like an airhead because that was the only way that anyone found her attractive. She was also tired of dealing with all the drama of jealous girlfriends and boyfriends, because by this point, she had learned that she actually really loved having sex. So she started searching for things online about the military.

 

That was when she hit her first road block. The military wouldn't take anyone with any sort of colorblindness. And she was colorblind as fuck. So Kai started looking for ways around this. Anything that would allow her to join the army and be with her brother. And then she found a possible solution.

 

Medical knowledge had advanced leaps and bounds over the years and they had finally found a way to possibly fix colorblindness. It was experimental but there had been a fair few successes. According to what she read, there was only a 50 percent chance that it would work and it was expensive.

 

The next day Kai went to the bank and checked her balance. In two months, she would have enough money for the surgery. She had gone home after that and scheduled an appointment to try and fix the one thing that was keeping her from the only person that truly loved her.

 

Three months later, Kai could see everything. She spent the rest of her time before turning 18, learning what color was what and everything else that she could. She also made appointments once a month so that the doctors could make sure that everything was still okay and that there were no problems. The month before she turned 18, the doctors finally cleared her and marked her down as another success.

 

The day she turned 18, Kai marched down to the recruitment office and signed up for the military. After a year of basic training, most of which she spent sleeping around -and it was fucking awesome, but so was learning how to shoot a gun-, she had been shipped out to Blood Gulch and found her brother. But there was another problem. He was on the other team.

 

So she acted like she did back in high school and pretended that she was still colorblind in hopes that she could spend at least a little time with him before she had to join her actual team. The whole charade she held up while she was in Blood Gulch was actually pretty fun and she got laid a couple of times so she could live with it.

 

And then it wasn't, everyone got shipped out except her, the Red Team CO, and the Spanish robot. She would have talked to them but every time she got close the old man would shoot at her. She stopped trying after the first month. Instead she tried to come up with things to do until someone came back. After seven months, she finally found a sound system and a bunch of shitty rave music. She could work with that since it was better than nothing.

 

That was when she had the best fucking idea in the world. She was going to fuck with the paranoid old man. So she would turn the music up as loud as it could go, grab as much alcohol as she could find, and anything that would light up. She always made sure that she was standing on top of the base doing rave dances, that way the old man would see her and think she was up to something. She only did this every other week though. It would get boring if she did it every night.

 

But there was one thing that she did every night without fail. Drink. She kept doing it in the hopes that she could forget how lonely she really was. Her team was gone and so was her brother. And she couldn't even interact with the only two people left in the canyon. She had felt isolated and like she was being punished for something.

 

That trend continued for the next seven months. She was 20 years old now and starting to think that she would be alone forever. And then he showed up. Kai wasn't sure what to do with an actual person to talk to. So she fell back on the routine that she had become so familiar with; being an airhead. But he hadn't been like the others and he just left because she didn't tell him anything that he needed to know.

 

Kai didn't think that she was ever going to see him again and she actually wanted to because he was a person and he could make her feel less alone. But he was gone now and he wasn't coming back. Just like everyone else.

 

And then he did. He came back and offered to take her with him and why would he do that? No one else asked her to come with them. No one in her life ever had. So she was skeptical until he told her why. Maybe this was her chance. Maybe she could find someone that wouldn't leave her. So she went with him.

 

He was rather quiet and broody but she liked to think that maybe he just hadn't warmed up to her yet. So she started hitting on him any chance she got just to see if he would react. He never really did. And after their talk that night, she decided that she kinda liked him. So she started to become the person that she had locked away because that person had never been good enough. Of course she still hit on him even after that because she really did love sex and it had been a _really_ long time. Plus his voice was hot.

 

Agent Washington was a less cold to her after that and she found that she genuinely liked him. Like, _liked_ liked him. He trusted her to do things that he didn't trust Caboose and Church to do. He talked to her about things that he knew she would get but that the other two wouldn't. He tried to help get over her anger at being left alone. He had even trusted her to have his back when they fought the Meta. And that made her feel wanted. She had only felt that way with the first boy that she liked. But this was different. She could tell.

 

And then everything started to fall apart because of that _bitch_. Wash was finally starting to let her in a little bit and then that bitch opened up every wound that he had. On top of that, the bitch shot him in the back and left him to die after he had tried to help her. Kai hated her. She was the reason that Wash left. She was the reason why Kai couldn't find him now.

 

So Kai made the best decision that she had ever made after not being able to find Wash; she marched back to the base, up the ramp -the bitch was sitting against the wall and Kai assumed that Church had kicked the weapons farther away since there were none near her-, and shot that bitch in the face for what she had done. And damn did that make Kai feel a little better. But not completely because she knew that Wash wasn't going to come back after revealing everything that he did.

 

"Light bulb! Front and center now!" She yelled, waiting for the green AI to appear. Church and Caboose looked nervous and were probably thinking that she just might shoot them too because of how angry she was.

 

_"My designation is 'Delta'. How may I be of assistance?"_

 

"You mentioned that the Meta needed to repair itself. What kind of repairs were you talking about?"

 

_"The Meta is most likely dangerously low on power due to the damage that it's overshield sustained. It will most likely search out a way to recharge it."_

 

"So we're talking some sort of power plant then?" She needed to be sure that that was where the Meta was heading. Because wherever the Meta was going, then Wash was probably going there too.

 

_"Correct. But I do not know of any in the area. So I cannot be of any further assistance on the subject."_

 

Delta flickered out and Kai kicked the fuel cell that was lying on the ground next to her. Just because she knew what she was looking for didn't mean that she had a way to find it. She needed to find him soon or she just knew that something bad was going to happen to him.

 

"Why the fuck do you want to find the Meta so bad?" Church asked cautiously as he and Caboose shared a look. They knew something and they weren't telling her what it was.

 

"I'm not looking for the Meta. I'm looking for Wash. After what happened I'm pretty sure that he's not planning on coming back here. And if I'm right, that bitch used everything he said to try and save herself," she spat as she glared at South's body, "Haven't you noticed that he tries to put a wall between himself and us? He had something planned and now that he's more than likely marked as rogue, he's going to try and finish whatever he was doing. And he's going to be reckless about it. He's not coming back because that would mean dragging us down with him and he won't do that. He cares but he refuses to show it. I'm not letting him get himself killed."

 

"We, uh, we might know a place...," Church told her.

 

Kai brightened at that and walked passed South's body -she was tempted to kick it- and into Church's base. There was a Warthog in there and they were going to make full fucking use of it. She hopped over the edge and slid down the side to where the rubble pile was. When she was close enough to the pile, she push off the decline and sailed over the pile and the cones, landing in the main area. She quickly ran over to the fence gate that the Warthog was behind and pulled it open. She walked the last few feet and hopped into the driver's seat. Luckily, the keys were already in the ignition. She turned the key and waited for the engine to start, putting it in drive when it had and then driving out both of the gates.

 

Kai pulled to a stop after the second gate and turned her head to face Church and Caboose, "Get in, now. I'm betting that we don't have much time before whoever that bitch called gets here."

 

Church didn't need any more encouragement than that and jumped into the passenger seat. Caboose followed simply because he would follow Church anywhere. He took the gunner position and once she was sure he was ready, Kai pressed hard on the gas pedal and took off, driving away from the base that caused all her current problems.

 

"Which way are we going?" She asked Church.

 

"Once we're out of the canyon, there's a side road on the right. It should take us to where we need to go," Church answered, "Hey, Delta!"

 

Delta appeared in front of Church. Kai was a little curious about why Church called Delta. So she put half of her attention on their conversation while the other half was concentrated on her driving and finding the right road.

 

_"How may I be of assistance?"_

 

"I was wondering, just what does the Meta want with all these AI things? I understand the equipment part, at least that lets you do cool stuff, but these AI things are just kind of annoying. They're constantly yapping and causing trouble."

 

_"I am going to ignore that. AI are designed to help the Freelancers in battle. Without an AI to assist them, they would not be able to run a majority of their equipment. With a Smart AI, any Freelancer would be neigh unstoppable."_

 

"What, you mean smart like you?"

 

_"Not exactly. We are more analogous to what you would call a fragment. My function is only to be logical."_

 

"Fragment? That can't be right. The only way to cause a fragment would be split a Smart AI," Kai interjected. Suddenly she had a really good idea of had happened to Wash and what Project Freelancer had been doing.

 

_"Protocol states that I am not allowed to talk about this subject. Logging off now."_

 

Delta disappeared and Kai clenched the wheel hard. She knew what Wash was doing now. And she knew that there was no way that he could pull it off without getting himself killed. From everything that he had said to South about Epsilon and not knowing who he was when he woke up, and now with Delta mentioning that he was only a fragment; Wash had learned what had happened and he was planning to take down Project Freelancer. And it was going to get him fucking killed.

 

"What the fuck was that all about?" Church asked her.

 

"You don't get it do you? AI are mapped from a human brain and when a human is introduced to things it can't handle, it's brain splits and creates another personality that is capable handling what happened. It like the brain's defense mechanism," Kai started. She had read a lot while she was researching in order to join the military. One of the things she had come across was Multiple Personality Disorder and her explanation was how she interpreted it, "An AI is basically a digital brain that has been given form. If an AI is put into a situation it can't handle, it splits off whatever emotion it was feeling at the time and casts it off, creating a fragment. It's cruel to do something like that because AI do have feelings. It's a form of torture and eventually it won't be able to stand it's own memories and it will cast them off."

 

"Wait a minute... you don't mean... Wash's AI do you? And how do you even know all this?"

 

"Yes. That's probably why he never talks about it. Wash probably knows everything that the Project did thanks to his AI. That's also why Epsilon was probably so unstable. All it was was memories and if the Smart AI couldn't handle them, then how was a fragment supposed to?" She answered, "And I know all of this because I loved reading Dr. Halsey's work. That woman was the leading authority on AI before she disappeared. Had a lot of theories."

 

Church was silent as he mulled over all the information that she had given him. Which was fine with her because they were almost there. She could see the building coming up fast as the Warthog's tires met sand. Because of course the base was on a beach. Most power plants were as far as she knew.

 

As they approached the entrance, Kai let off the accelerator in order to swing around the corner into the base, she drove up to the nearest staircase and then stopped. Kai jumped out of the Warthog and ran up the steps. She turned the corner and continued down the hall. And damn, she had never been more happy in her life that sex had given her such great stamina.

 

Kai turned another corner and continued down the hall, the sound of gunfire reaching her ears. Kai followed the sounds down a set of stairs and another hallway until it stopped. A new sound reached her ears, the sound of something metal hitting the ground and bouncing. She pulled her pistol out as she rounded the final corner and the sight the met her froze her blood.

 

Wash was on his hands and knees, his helmet missing -the bouncing sound-, and he was looking up at the Meta as it raised the wicked looking blade of it's weapon. Kai did the first thing that came to her; she quickly raised her gun and fired at the Meta. And it hit, the force pushing it back and saving Wash from dying.

 

She heard Church and Caboose come to a stop behind her as she watched Wash turn his head and look at them with surprise. She saw him say something but she couldn't hear it over the sound of her rapid heartbeat. He had almost fucking died. Kai had almost lost the one person that treated her like an actual person and not a sex object. She wanted to yell and scream and hug him and beat the shit out of him for doing this to her, but the Meta was still there and she had to take care of it first.

 

She took a deep breath and ran towards Wash and the Meta, she fired two shots in rapid succession. One straight at the Meta and one to the right because that was the only way that the Meta could really go to dodge the first shot. She heard the Meta snarl when the second bullet hit and watched as it took off out of the area. She kept firing until the clip was empty because that _fucker_ had almost _killed_ him.

 

Now that the Meta had fled, she dropped her gun and turned to face Wash. The adrenaline rush was wearing off and she couldn't get her shaking legs to hold her up anymore, so she let herself fall to her knees. Kai took one look at him and then threw her arms around his neck, her head resting on his shoulder. And then she broke, because she almost lost him. He almost died and if she would have been any later, he would have.

 

She felt Wash wrap his arms around her waist and Kai just cried harder. God, he was such an idiot! He was such a fucking idiot for leaving her and thinking that she would just be okay if died. And she told him that.

 

"Kai...," she heard him breath out but he didn't continue. That's okay though, she was far from done with yelling at him.

 

"After- after everything that's happened, you think you can just- just run off and leave me!?" She screamed and God, did she hope that she was hurting his ears because he fucking deserved it for putting her through this, "That you can just go and- and get yourself killed!?

 

Kai tried to stop her sobbing and began taking deep breaths. Her sobs died down but the tears wouldn't stop falling.

 

"Kai... I'm sorry, Kai. I didn't think that any of you would want anything to do with me after everything I said," that was fucking bullshit. She knew exactly why he did this and lying to her pissed her off even more. And damn it, he was going to see just how pissed she was!

 

She yanked her helmet off after she pulled away from him. She could see in his eyes that he really was sorry for upsetting her but that wasn't going to stop her from beating the shit out of him for pulling this stunt. So she quickly drew her arm back before throwing it forward and landing a hard punch on his shoulder. She was more than happy to see him fall over and almost hit the ground. When he pulled himself upright again, he just stared at her and that just made her more angry because he wasn't saying anything. So Kai glared at him and threw another punch at him. Sadly, he didn't fall over this time but he did admit that he deserved both hits.

 

"Damn right you did!" She yelled. She was kind of tired of being mad at him though so she decided to fix that the best way she knew how; by flirting with him, "And you lost two points on my scale of how fuckable you are!" Kai paused and took the time to really look at him, so far she hadn't really been paying attention to what he looked like. His hair was blonde and it was parted above his right eye instead of the middle of his head. His bangs reached his ear lobes and the rest of his hair was a little longer than his bangs. But his eyes, that was the part that stood out the most. They had a darker ring of blue on the outside of the iris and a lighter blue from the ring to the pupil, giving them an icy look. And God, was he hot! The only way he could get any hotter was if he stopped dyeing his hair, she could see the dark roots coming in. "But I'm adding five points because I was right. You're fucking hot!"

 

Wash gave her an small, amused smile before putting his helmet on and Kai rolled her eyes and did the same. She watched him stand and then reach out a hand to help her up. She took it and he pulled her to her feet before he turned to face Church and Caboose. She heard him let out a quiet chuckle which caused her to look around him to see what was so funny. Turns out that Church and Caboose were not good with emotions or displays of affection because they refused to look at them. This caused Kai to giggle as well.

 

She saw Wash shake his head and start walking over to them. As she followed him, Kai decided that she really needed to talk to him about dyeing his hair. That shit had to stop. Plus it would make his eyes stand out more. And Kai _really_ loved his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first, I was doing some research on colorblindness for writing Kai during this chapter when I found that the military actually doesn't allow colorblind people to join. That made me wonder just how Kai got into the military since I imagine that they would test for it. And then I realized that I could fabricate that they had invented an experimental cure since it's 500 years into the future. For all we know, maybe they will find a way to cure it by that time.
> 
> Secondly, as I mentioned at the top, I know jack squat about Halo since I've never played it (I can't play any shooting game without getting a headache from the quick direction shifting). All I know is that Dr. Halsey created Cortana and the Spartan Program. And that ONI arrested her later.
> 
> And lastly, for those of you that were wondering, I always imagined Wash to look kind of like Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil. Just with darker hair and lighter blue eyes. And until they flat out say on RVB that Wash's hair isn't dyed, I will continue to think that it is. When we see him from the back in season 10, his hair is even lighter than North's and to me, his hair looked dyed also.
> 
> I hope this answers any questions that you may have had and if I missed something, feel free to ask and I will answer!


	10. Reconstruction: Why Waste Ammo When There Are Perfectly Good Jeeps Around To Throw Instead?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got nothing this time. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! Enjoy!

Somehow, the Reds had managed to make it from the windmill blade over to a few crates that were located at the perfect angle for them to fire on their cover. And they did just that. Because that was just how Wash's luck worked. So, he shot back at them with his assault rifle while Caboose stood off to side opposite of him saying whistle over and over again until Church snapped and started screaming at him. Meanwhile, Kai was trying to find a way to help him without putting herself in a position where she could be shot.

 

Over all, Wash was losing his patience with this bullshit. They needed to stop the Meta. Not deal with a bunch of fucking morons that he could hear bickering among themselves while the Maroon one kept shooting.

 

"We have to end this. The longer we're stuck here, the closer the Meta gets to the generator," he told them.

 

The lights flickered and everything that was electrical and connected to the base, sparked. Sometimes Wash really fucking hated being right. In the distance he could hear the Reds questioning what just happened. Now was the perfect time to deal with them while they weren't shooting at them. Wash activated his voice amplifier and stood in the doorway. A couple of shots were fired from the Reds but they missed him. Sadly, one the cones next to the door was not so lucky.

 

"Red Team. Attention, Red Team. Cease fire. Cease, fire," and he swore to God that if those idiots didn't stop shooting like he told them to, then he was just going to chuck a grenade at them and be done with it. Kai would probably hate him for killing her brother, but Wash figured that he could just get her a kitten or something to make up for it. Some of them live for about 20 years and they love you unconditionally if you feed them.

 

"Hey how do you do that megaphone thing with your voice?" Church asked and Wash wasn't sure if he wanted to answer that because who knows what Church was planning.

 

"It's a voice amplifier. It's standard issue, all our suits have one," Wash answered even though he really shouldn't have.

 

"They do!?" Church asked in excitement. Yeah, really bad idea to tell him that.

 

"What do you want!?" He heard the voice of the Red Team leader calling out to him. Followed by the Orange? one echoing the question. The Red Team leader told him to shut up and called him 'Grif'. So that was Kai's brother then. Wash was now sure that he got the better Grif sibling after watching everything that had gone on.

 

"We are not your enemy," he cut in, because fuck this, "My name is Agent Washington-"

 

He was cut off by Kai snorting and coming to stand next to him, "No it's not! His name is Agent Hottie!" She called out to the other team.

 

"Testing, te-, holy shit it does work! This is badass!" Church cheered after he figured out how to turn on the voice amplifier. And God fucking damn it!

 

What happened next was the greatest minute of Wash's whole life. Kai walked up behind Church, kicked him hard in the back of his knees so that he dropped down on them, and then she punched him in the back of the head hard enough to force Church face down on the floor.

 

"Shut up, Bitch! Let Agent Hottie talk so that we can go take care of the fucking Meta!" She took two steps around Church and then kicked him in the side hard enough to send him flying out the door, all the while he was whining in pain. And at that moment, Wash was pretty sure that he fell a little bit in love with Kai.

 

"Do it again!" The Red Team leader called out before adding, "Also, we ain't fallin' for that again either!"

 

"I don't have time for your bullsh- Where the fuck is Caboose!?" And now he had even more to deal with because sometime during this bullshit, Caboose had wandered off. With Delta. And with the Meta on the loose.

 

Kai's head whipped around to search for the Blue soldier and he heard her inhale sharply when she couldn't find him. She took off down the hall behind them and he called after her. Church was just standing up after his beating and he ran off after Kai. Leaving Wash to make the choice of whether to deal with Red Team or follow them.

 

His decision was made for him when he saw the red armor and domed helmet at the vehicle bay behind the Reds. The flicker of seven different colors surrounding it. No. Nonononono! Caboose!

 

"Get in here! Get in here right now!" He yelled in panic. When they didn't move, Wash ran out to try and distract the Meta enough for the Reds to hopefully haul ass into cover. He watched the Meta lift one of the jeeps, and at the same time Grif turned around and saw the same thing Wash did.

 

"Uh, Sarge. We, uh, we might want to do what he said," Grif said nervously and that was when the Maroon one turned and then whimpered.

 

"The hell is wrong with you two?" Sarge asked as he turned around finally and saw the Meta throwing the jeep at them, "Oh... Retreat!" Why was it always fucking cars!? And why did they hate him so much!?

 

Wash turned and ran back into the doorway as Grif ran past the door screaming oh God over and over. Sarge and the Maroon one ducked into cover with him just in time as the jeep flew passed the doorway. Wash ducked out to check on Grif -he was Kai's brother after all- and saw him run between two trees and the jeep crashed against them, saving Grif from being mowed over by it.

 

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?" Grif screamed at him.

 

Wash didn't bother to answer and ducked back into cover as the Meta started throwing anything that it could get it's hands on. And then it started launching grenades on top of it as one of them blew up against the wall opposite of the door. Just fucking great. It was at full power again.

 

"What is that thing?" The Maroon one asked.

 

"The Meta. It steals AI and equipment from Freelancers. Usually after it kills them. And it just got itself a shiny new AI. Keep it busy. I need to find out how Caboose is doing since he had the Delta AI," Wash told them as he turned and ran down the hallway behind him.

 

Wash ran up a set of stairs and down the catwalk, he turned a corner and almost ran right into Church. He managed to stop himself in time and peered around him. Kai was kneeling next to Caboose's prone form and trying to wake him up. Wash checked his vitals and saw that he was hurt but not dead.

 

"I can't get him to wake up," she told him when she noticed his presence.

 

Wash unhooked the Healing Unit from his armor and set it down next to Caboose. A green glow emitted from it once he activated it.

 

"What's that?" Church asked.

 

"It's a Healing Unit. It should be able to fix whatever is wrong with him," he answered and then asked, "Do you have any way to get a hold of the Reds? I left them to entertain the Meta."

 

"I do. I have a private channel with my brother that we set up back in Blood Gulch. It didn't work anymore when he left because he was too far away," Kai told him and then connected her radio to her brother, "Hey, big bro! How's it going out there?"

 

Wash didn't hear the response but Kai just sighed and started looking around. She walked up to the turret and told Grif that she would take care of it. Wash saw the chain gun behind the wall of sandbags to his left. He latched his rifle to the magnetic strip on the back of his armor and picked up the chain gun. Kai picked up the shotgun that was leaning against the sandbags on his left. She checked for ammo and then collected as much ammo for it as she could carry.

 

"Watch over Caboose, we have to go keep the damsels in distress from getting eaten by the evil dragon," he deadpanned as he walked back down the hall again. Kai giggled at the analogy and followed him, the barrel of the shotgun rested against her shoulder.

 

When they made it back to the catwalk, it was to the sight of of the Meta throwing the Reds' Warthog at them and Sarge bitching about payments. Wash sighed and shook his head before jumping off of the catwalk, landing behind the Meta. He heard Kai land a few seconds after him. He watched the Meta reload before he drew it's attention.

 

"Hi there. Remember us?" Wash asked as the Meta turned around.

 

Wash opened fire with the chain gun and Kai followed suit by firing rounds from her shotgun. The bullets from the chain gun were powerful enough to tear though the Meta's shield and the shotgun rounds where doing quite a bit of damage to the shield. The Meta hissed at them and began to back away, Wash and Kai advanced on it and the Meta continued to snarl and hiss in pain and anger as the rounds continued to cause damage to it. It continued to back away until it was just passed the door where the Reds were holed up. And then Wash blinked and it was gone.

 

Wash looked around and then threw the chain gun on the ground. Damn that fucking Temporal Distortion Unit! Once again the Meta was gone and they had a lost another shot at killing it. And damn the fucking Reds for showing up and ruining their chance to kill it _before_ it powered up.

 

"It's gone!?" Kai asked in surprise.

 

"Damn it! You idiots! We almost had it!" Wash yell at the Reds.

 

"Almost had it!? We never even hurt it!" The Maroon one yelled and Wash wondered if he could get away with clocking him just because it would make Wash feel better.

 

"He means before you dumbasses showed up and ruined everything! We had it's shield down and had it injured and then you all just had to show up and prevent us from going after it!" Kai yelled.

 

"Oh yeah, you guys looked you had _everything_ under control before we got there," Sarge answered sarcastically.

 

"Shut up old man, before I fucking make you," Kai retorted.

 

At that moment, Grif walked up to them and stopped close to the Maroon one. He looked right at Kai and that was when Wash knew that this was going to turn ugly.

 

"What the fuck are you even doing here!? I'm pretty sure that I told you to go home," Grif said to her.

 

"Bitch, please! I'm 20 fucking years old and you can't tell me what to do! I'm staying right where I am! Well, unless Agent Hottie wants to find an empty room and have a quick fuck. Then I'll move," she just had to say that in front of he brother, didn't she? Wash was pretty sure that she had just painted a target on his back for Grif to try and shoot at.

 

"Really Kai?" He asked, "You know what, never mind. Back to the matter at hand. You three are staying with us now. I could fight the Meta with just Kai, but I'd feel better if we had more help and Chu-," Wash cut himself off as he remembered that he had left the fucking Alpha AI alone with an unconscious Caboose, "Fuck! We left them alone. Let's go Kai."

 

Wash and Kai ran back up to where they had left the other two. Surprisingly, the Reds followed them. When they arrived, Church was crouched over Caboose and the Healing Unit was offline, signaling that any wounds that Caboose had were now healed.

 

"Why isn't he waking up? That thing stopped glowing five minutes ago," Church told them when he noticed them.

 

Wash knelt down on Caboose's other side and checked him over, "He seems okay. I think he was just knocked out, I just can't get him to come out of it."

 

Caboose started mumbling something that Wash couldn't make out. It was too quiet to hear. Grif asked them what he was saying. And if Wash knew then would have told them. Church on the other hand, probably not so much.

 

"I can't make it out but... I don't really understand half the stuff he says normally," Church told them.

 

"This makes no sense. All his vitals check out. Why can't I revive him? Hey, do you guys know a medic around here by any chance?" Wash asked the group.

 

"NO!" They all shouted at him. Well, that was odd and really not his concern right now.

 

"Well maybe removing Delta did something to him. Like... a... a coma or something," Church guessed.

 

"Yeah but there's no way to know that for sure," Wash lied. He knew that forcefully removing an AI would cause quite a shock and a lot of pain. But that was all it would do. The person that the AI was removed from would still be able to function if they were awake when it was removed. He had seen the footage of what had happened to Carolina when they gave him this job so that he would know what he was dealing with. She had still tried to fight the Meta while it was removing her AI and it had taken _two_ AI out of her implants, "Unless you have a way to see inside his head. I'm gonna go see if I can contact a medic in the area."

 

Wash turned and walked through the nearby archway. He made the suggestion on purpose in order to see if Church knew that he was an AI. He figured that if Church knew, he wouldn't jump while Wash was around so he fabricated the lie that he was going to go call a medic and then return in a couple of minutes to see if Church had jumped or not.

 

He rounded the corner so that he was out of sight and then attached his rifle to the mag strip on his back before he leaned against the wall to wait. With his arms free of the rifle, Wash crossed them in front of his chest. The sound of footsteps met his ears and Wash turned his head to see just who was coming to 'distract' him. And why wasn't he even the slightest bit surprised to see Kai walk around the corner. She must have sensed his lie, she was rather good at that after all.

 

"You're hiding something. I can tell because you lied to those idiots about calling a medic," she said and Wash was right.

 

"Maybe I just knew that you would follow me so I didn't bother to try calling yet," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

 

"Bullshit, now spill," was her come back. Wash just sighed and gave in, tilting his head back so that it leaned against the wall behind him.

 

"We both know that I know more than I'm letting on," he started and Kai nodded, "He doesn't think that I know it, but I do. I know that Church is an AI. I'm not sure if he knows that he is or not, though."

 

"Bitch thinks he's a ghost," Kai snorted, "I kind of figured that he was back when Tex shot him in Blood Gulch. I don't know which one he is though. But I do know that yours was memory. That's how you know that Church is one. You remember him."

 

"I really shouldn't be surprised that you figured it out. You're far more perceptive and intelligent than you show everyone. Including your brother. I'd ask why that is, but I have the feeling that you won't tell me. At least not right now," he said as he turned his head to look at her. Her hands were on her hips and her head was tilted slightly to the left. The shotgun attached to the mag strip on her back, "Alpha. Church is the Alpha AI. The original, he just doesn't remember that. The reason I know is because Epsilon was _all_ of the Alpha's memories. Every time I was sedated after the implant, when I dreamed, I watched everything through the Alpha's eyes, heard his voice as he begged for them to just give him more time. So yes, I remember him."

 

"Well, if you still plan to catch him in the act, I suppose we should get back then."

 

Wash snorted and the pushed off the wall, he walked the couple of steps over to Kai and then turned to head back down the walkway to the others. Kai followed him.

 

"Oh, yeah! Before I forget, I have to talk to you about something _really_ important! But it can wait 'til later!" Kai chirped. If she was this happy about whatever she wanted to talk about, Wash knew to be cautious. Nothing good can come from that talk.

 

Wash and Kai stopped in the archway just in time to see Church materialize and shout for Delta to wait and about what did he mean that 'memory was the key'. Wash's eyes widened and he inhaled sharply. He knew exactly what that meant. Epsilon was still alive.


	11. Reconstruction: Leave Me And Lock The Door; Latch The Window, Lose The Key, But You'll Be Back Someday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: the chapter title actually comes from the song _Backdraft_ by the band Thrice. There will be some things that I'll answer about this chapter at the end. I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

Wash wasn't sure how to handle the revelation that Epsilon was still alive. By the time they had sedated him, he had thought that Epsilon's chip would have already been burned out and gone dead by the time they removed it. But it wasn't dead. Epsilon was alive, and that meant that they put him in storage because he could be used as evidence against the Project.

 

Wash drew his free hand up and touched the back of his neck where his implant port was. He could dimly hear Church and the Reds trying to tell him what was going on in the background. None of it was making any sense to him though and it all just sounded like white noise. Because Epsilon was _still alive_ and Wash hadn't known and he had _left_ him there. Wash could have saved him. Epsilon may have been unstable but he was _still_ Wash's AI.

 

He heard the others fall silent upon noticing that he hadn't said or even acknowledged them. He felt a hand fall on his shoulder and Wash tensed under the unexpected touch. Subconsciously, he knew that it was Kai that had preformed the action but it wasn't really registering in his brain because his head was still spinning at the fact that _Epsilon was still alive_.

 

He needed to save him. He needed to get him out of the Project's grasp because Epsilon didn't deserve this. It wasn't Epsilon's fault that he was unstable, and Wash knew that the AI hadn't asked to be that way. He was just unlucky enough to be the memories, just like Wash was unlucky enough to get him in the first place. The Director _knew_ that Epsilon was unstable and he hadn't even bothered to wait to see if Epsilon would stabilize or help the AI become stable. It was all just a fun little experiment to the man so that he could see what would happen.

 

Wash vaguely recalled telling Church to get back in his body before he walked dazedly across the catwalk and down the stairs, through the hallway and back out into the main area of the base. He didn't even notice or care if anyone had followed him and instead set about to see if he could find a still functioning vehicle that could take him to Command. There were none. The Meta had trashed them all. And wasn't that just Wash's fucking luck.

 

He dropped his rifle and leaned against the nearest wall before sliding down it into a sitting position. He crosses his arms over his knees and rested his head against them. He tried to think of a solution to his problem; where to get a vehicle and how to get into Command to retrieve Epsilon. Maybe if he was lucky, they might not have removed his clearance yet, but he doubted that. He had never had the Devil's Luck.

 

"Wash...," Kai's voice broke into his daze and he raised his head to look at her. It wasn't just her though, everyone was gathered in front of him but Kai was the only one kneeling in front of him so he looked solely at her, "What's going on? One moment you were fine and the next you weren't... What happened?"

 

"I... I suppose I owe you all an explanation. I don't like talking about it, so please don't interrupt me. You deserve to know what happened and what I've dragged you all into," he started, raising his hand to run it through his hair, only to realize a second later that he was still wearing his helmet, "It all started back when I was still on the front lines during the war. I was a Corporal based in Kholo before it fell and things were not good at that time. The Covenant was winning, so the Staff Sergeant decided that we should make a push. The only problem with that though, was that his plan was going to get us all killed and he wasn't even planning on going with us. He was sending us out to get slaughtered so that he could be the hero and get a fucking medal and promotion out of our deaths. I was angry about what he was going to do, so I smashed his head into a locker and knocked him out. I took charge of planning the assault and making sure that most of us would live until evac. got us out of there. I saved most of the Unit but we lost so many other soldiers and civilians when the Covenant glassed the planet. We had no time and we barely made it out alive. As it turns out, the Staff Sergeant had a lot of pull, so all I got was a fucking Court Martial. They wouldn't even let anyone from the Unit testify on my behalf. They were going to send me to jail for doing the right thing. And that was when the Counselor stepped in and offered me a spot in an experimental program that the Director had created; Project Freelancer.

 

"At the time, it seemed like just the saving grace that I needed because it was either go to jail or join the Project and be able to keep fighting and saving people. So of course I joined and I became Agent Washington. After my Court Martial, I decided that it was in my best interest to follow the rules and do what I was told. I was afraid that if I didn't then they would kick me out and send me to jail anyway. At this point it was near the end of the war and we were told that we were going to be the ones that stopped the war. We never did end up fighting the aliens though. Instead, most of the missions we were given were for object retrieval and data gathering on a UNSC splinter group that called themselves the 'Insurrection'. At first it seemed like everything was going great and the Director was granted permission to have AI. Only, we didn't know that he had only been granted the use of _one_ AI. And that was when everything started to go wrong.

 

"The first to notice that things weren't right was Connie - or C.T. as she preferred to be called. I didn't realize it at the time, but she was trying to warn me that things were wrong the second that they introduced the Leader Board. I was so fixated on not fucking this chance up that I was actually stupid enough to think that the Director had done it to help us get better. All it was was an experiment designed to makes us rip each other apart. And we did. 

 

"Carolina was Number One on the board and she was the best out of all of us. And then Texas showed up and knocked Carolina to second. So instead of being our leader, she started getting mad at us and picking apart our performance in the field. She was so obsessed with getting her Number One position back that we didn't matter nearly as much to her anymore. And then we got the infiltration mission that made everything into a nightmare.

 

"We were sent retrieve an object that the Director said would help us end the war. Somehow, after we retrieved it, I was pushed into the Pelican with it by Texas and that was the end of my involvement in the mission. And I wish that it hadn't been. My best friend in the Project, Maine, was shot multiple times in the throat. He lived but he would never be able to talk again. That was when they started slotting us for implants. Carolina gave her AI to Maine so that he could communicate with us. It was the last thing she did for any of us but it was also the worst thing that she could have done. So Maine received the Sigma AI and then he spent a lot of time in recovery for his throat, York got Delta to compensate for an eye injury that he received in a 'training exercise', and none of us knew it at the time but Texas had Omega.

 

"That was when we were given the mission to go after the Insurrectionist leader and take him out. On that mission, C.T. defected. After that mission failed, we ended up waiting for our scouting team to report back with their location. During that time, North received Theta. Shortly after that, the scouting team reported in and we were given the mission to take back C.T.'s armor because it was property of Project Freelancer. Texas fatally injured C.T. but she and the Insurrectionist leader were able to escape. We failed that mission also because we lost the armor. 

"After the mission, Wyoming received Gamma. South and I were slated for Eta and Iota when Carolina found out that Texas had Omega. She demanded that the Director give her an AI so that she could finally beat Texas. He gave her the choice of which of us between South and I to push back into rotation. She demanded that she get both of them and the Director let her. So she got both Eta and Iota and I was moved back onto the roster to receive the next one with South after me.

 

"After her implantation, Carolina woke up and demanded to have a match with Texas. The match had only just started when the Director stormed into the observation deck and asked what the hell was going on and that there were no matches scheduled for that day, and when he saw who was fighting, he screamed 'No! Allison!' and everyone with an AI in the observation deck lost it. Grabbing their heads in pain and their AIs repeating the name Allison over and over again. Carolina heard it too and got the worst of it because she had two AI. Texas was unaffected though and at the time I had no idea why. I didn't really want an AI anymore after that but I didn't have a choice. Next thing I knew, I was scheduled to receive Epsilon.

 

"It... didn't go well. The second he was implanted, I could feel his pain and he was throwing out images of a blonde woman in uniform. I remember grabbing my head and screaming from the pain that Epsilon was making me feel. He kept screaming 'Don't say goodbye, I hate goodbyes' over and over and by the time they had sedated me, I had said it too. I vaguely remember the Director saying that he wanted to talk to me when I woke up. But since they didn't remove Epsilon, I was never lucid enough for him to talk to. I was in constant pain and I kept waking up screaming from the memories that I was living. The Alpha's memories. Everything that he went through, I went through also thanks to Epsilon. He was the Alpha's memories and he was unstable because all he was, was the Alpha's memories of everything that he couldn't live with anymore, the memories of Allison, the torture. At that point, the Alpha couldn't really deal with any of it's memories anymore.

 

"They kept me sedated for a while after that to see if things would change and during that time, Epsilon had retreated to the furthest corner of mind that he could find. He was quiet and when I finally woke up, it was to North and South sitting with me. I asked what happened and North told me that they had removed Epsilon and I believed him because I couldn't feel Epsilon where he was hiding. The next thing I knew, the alarms were going off because someone had broke into the ship and they told me that it was Texas and that she had gone rogue while I was out.

 

"North and South left to go deal with it and I stayed in the med bay because my head was killing me. I assumed that it was from Epsilon's removal so I tried to go back to sleep. That was when the ship crashed on Sidewinder. I was pinned in the med bay and my head was hurting so bad that I didn't even have the strength to move any of the debris. And then I learned that they never removed Epsilon because all I could hear was him telling me that he was sorry and I couldn't figure out why until he started unraveling. He was killing himself in my head because he couldn't take it anymore. I can't really say that I blame him either. If the Alpha couldn't handle it and cast off all of it's memories then how was a fragment that was made of those memories supposed to handle it? So I laid there, trapped and screaming and trying to claw out Epsilon's chip with my own hands. He wasn't just destroying himself, he was destroying _me_ as well. Some of the surviving medics came in eventually and sedated me. And that was when they finally removed the chip.

 

"The first time that I remember waking up, I was in the psych ward listed as Article 12; unfit for duty. I also had no idea who I even was anymore. I had all of Alpha's memories, my own, and some of the Director's - Alpha had been mapped from the Director's brain. I knew _everything_ that had happened but I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel because I had no idea which person I was. I was left alone for years to try and put myself back together. No one came back for me. My team abandoned me and the Director didn't care about what happened to me until I was better. They locked me up and threw away the key, but I knew that they would come back one day because I was the one of the only ones they had left. I was one of the only ones that didn't get away. I was right too, they did come back for me. I never told them anything that I knew and I refused to have another AI because I didn't want it to find out what I knew and tell them. Oddly, that was why they gave me the job as a Recovery Agent. Because they knew that I wouldn't run off with one of their AI. I'm pretty sure that they never fully trusted me though.

 

"They gave me the task of recovering the AI and equipment from the rogue Freelancers and killing the Meta. They showed me the aftermath of the crash so that I knew what I was dealing with. Maine's AI took control of him and he ended up ripping Carolina's AIs from her implants. He threw her off a cliff after that and then proclaimed himself as the Meta.

 

"My first task was to deal with a few Freelancers that got themselves killed. And then came York's death. He still had Delta and his Healing Unit when he died so we knew that it wasn't the Meta that killed him. Wyoming was the one that killed him and he was still there when I arrived. I took Delta and the Healing Unit and then I had to detonate York's body because that was what they told me to do. But I know that it's because they can't allow anyone to get their hands on our armor. Most of us kept logs from out time during the Project and that would be evidence if the UNSC got a hold of it.

 

"Next was North. Killed by the Meta, but South survived. So I faked her death so that she could help me with the Meta. And then I gave her Delta and she had finally gotten what she wanted so she shot me in the back and left me to the Meta. After that, I swore that I would never work with another partner again. And that was when I met Kai. I almost didn't go back for her until I remembered our conversation and just what I felt like when I was left behind. And so here we are.

 

"This whole time I've laid low so that I could burn the Project to the fucking ground for everything that they did. To me, to the Freelancers, to the Alpha, to Epsilon, and to all of you. And now, I know that Epsilon is alive. I knew it the second Church asked what 'memory is the key' meant. Epsilon _is_ memory and he's exactly what I need to destroy the entire Project. "

 

Once Wash had finished speaking, Kai pulled him into a hug. He didn't know just how badly he had needed one until she did and he let himself relax in her hold as he leaned into her. He was sure that if his helmet was off, that she would be running her fingers through his hair also. He wasn't sure what it was about her that made him feel better almost every time he was hurt or upset or angry. He felt his heart beating a little faster and for some reason, he really didn't want to analyze just why it was. He wasn't sure if he would like the answer.

 

As much as he wanted to stay there with Kai, Wash knew that he had to figure things out quick. He needed a vehicle and he needed to go get Epsilon. And then he remember an even more pressing issue; he needed to stop the Meta or it would go after Epsilon. Maybe there was a way to do both at the same time...

 

Wash had been planning since the beginning to lure the Meta to the Freelancer Command Center. He had always known that the Meta wouldn't be able to resist the thought of any stored AI that Command might have. Once the Meta was there, he had been planning to set off the E.M.P. Failsafe that would take out everything in Command, including the Meta's AIs. His only hope to get Epsilon out was to have the Reds and Blues take him away. But he had to get them to agree to go with him first.

 

"I'm going after Epsilon and I understand if none of you want to help me. It's your fight too, even if you don't know why it is," he said.

 

"I have a question and it's been bugging me for a while; when we were at my base, Delta said that he agreed with the 'Simulation Trooper'. Why did he call me that?" Church asked and Wash really didn't want to tell him the answer to that. But maybe it would push them to go with him.

 

"You're really not going to like what I tell you... The Director set up the Simulation Bases to test the Freelancers. Each base was comprised of two teams; a Red Team and a Blue Team. They were told that the other team was the enemy and they had to defeat them. The thing was though, that pretty much all the teams were set up so that they would be locked in a stalemate until a Freelancer showed up to help one of the teams. All of the soldiers sent to the Simulation Bases were ones that had scored below average in some way. They were all soldiers that the UNSC had no use for until the Director stepped in and took them away to be used as testing and cannon fodder for the Freelancers. That's why none of you ever had anything to do unless a Freelancer showed up," he answered, wincing.

 

All of them were silent and he could actually tell that Sarge was in denial over it. He figured that the man was so set in his ways that he wouldn't believe it until he had physical evidence right in front of his face. He was pretty sure that none of them were going to come with him after that. And he was surprised when Sarge spoke up first.

 

"I'll go with you. I want proof and this 'Command' should have it, right?" He asked and Wash just nodded. Actually, now that he thought about it, they _might_ have proof on their computers. He wasn't going to tell the man that though since it might make him decide not to go.

 

"Psh! You're not getting rid of me that easily. I still haven't gotten to fuck you yet, Agent Hottie," Kai said. He was starting to believe that she wasn't teasing when she said that either. In fact, he didn't think that she ever had been teasing when he reflected on all of their interactions.

 

This spurred Grif into his own agreement because there was no way that he was letting his little sister 'embarrass' the family. Whatever that meant. The Maroon one -Wash really needed to learn his name- agreed because he would do whatever Sarge wanted him to and Sarge wanted him to hack into the computers for him. Church refused to go because while he cared about all of them, he cared more about finding Texas. Wash had always known that that was going to be the path that he chose because Allison was all that the Director had ever cared about and in return, all that the Alpha cared about was finding Beta. Caboose was torn between going with him or going with Church. In the end, Church told him to go with Wash because Church didn't need Caboose's help to find Texas, that he could do it on his own. Wash didn't have the heart to tell Church that Texas was probably gone.

 

So he came up with a plan, they would go back to Outpost 17 and steal a couple of Warthogs and then they would break into Freelancer Command. Church said that he would only go as far as Outpost 17 because he wanted to see Texas' body. Wash might not have been able to use him anymore like he had planned to, but he kind of liked the way that this was turning out better. Kai was a better choice to bring with him. She hadn't let him down yet, after all.

 

Wash was starting to believe again that maybe having a partner wasn't such a bad thing if you found the right partner. And Kai had proved to be pretty great partner so far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that some people (or most, I'm not sure how you'll feel about it really) will have a problem with Wash giving out information because it's too out of character. The reason I did it is because I needed to give Church a reason to leave for future purposes. Also, I always thought that the Reds and Blues deserved to know just why it was so important to take down the Project beside just Wash's caustic remark on them not being real soldiers.
> 
> As for Wash being stationed on Kholo; I needed a conflict that would tie in with his past and just how he ended up in Freelancer. It couldn't have been something that happened right after he passed Basic because he was a Corporal when he got Court Martialed. I chose Kholo because it was two years after Wash got out of Basic and it gave him the time necessary to climb the ranks and still be about 20 years old by the time he joined Freelancer. The timeline for RVB is so fucked that it makes it difficult to figure some stuff out. All I know for sure is that he's supposed to 30 by the start of the Chorus Arc. I'm guessing that he is about 25 or 26 during Recollection.
> 
> If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.


	12. Reconstruction: They Say That Blondes Have More Fun, If That's Not True For You, You Should Probably Stop Dyeing Your Hair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing to say this time other than if you have questions about this chapter, feel free to ask. I hope you all enjoy it!

By the time that they had everything planned out, it was late and Wash had decided that it was best to just spend the night at the base. After a thorough search of the base, they found four rooms that were set up as sleeping quarters. Each room had two beds, so the group decided to pair up.

 

Sarge and Simmons -Wash had learned during planning- decided to stick together. Grif, being the odd Red out, decided that he was sharing a room with Kai so that he could keep an eye on her. As much as he swore he hated him, Church decided it was best if he did the same with Caboose. But only because Caboose was more likely to listen to him than he was to listen to Wash. Which left Wash himself with his own room.

 

It was probably for the best that he was by himself. He didn't plan on sleeping much and if he did manage to fall asleep, there was less of a chance of the others hearing him if he dreamed of Alpha's torture. Or worse, if he dreamed of the crash and Epsilon's unraveling. He would be better off not sleeping at all, but he needed to because not sleeping the last few days was starting to catch up to him.

 

He figured it would be best to sleep now, that way if he dreamed of Epsilon's memories and woke up confused about who was -sometimes he still did wake up and think that he was Alpha or the Director- he would have time to piece himself back together before the others woke up. He carefully removed his armor so that he was left wearing the Kevlar undersuit and crawled under the sheets of the bed after placing his combat knife under the pillow. He fell asleep within minutes due to his fatigue.

 

_Wash blinked and the sound of the ship's alarm system rang out over the intercom. He looked at North and saw him looking around. Wash tilted his head to look up at the speaker located by the observation window, the sound of the alarms and FILSS warning them of an intruder just made the headache that North and South were giving him worse._

 

_"Or she'll come back on her own," North said as Wash looked up at him. He wondered if Texas had figured out what the Director had done. What other reason could she have to go rogue if not that?_

 

_"Why the fuck is she even here!?" South seethed and Wash didn't think that his head was going to be able to take much more of her loudness._

 

_"South, you need to calm down. They'll catch her," North spoke calmly, trying to keep South from making any rash decisions. He could already tell that it failed and Wash was proven right when she stormed out of the room bitching about how she wasn't going to let Texas get away with what she had done._

 

_North placed a hand on Wash's shoulder and tilted his head to look at him, "We should probably go stop her before she causes too much trouble."_

 

_"I think I'm gonna sit this one out. My head is really starting to kill me," he said as he shook his head a little. He stopped the action almost as soon as he had started it, it was only making it worse._

 

_North nodded and then ran out of the room after South. Once he was gone, Wash pulled off his helmet and set it on the chair that South had been sitting in. He removed his gloves after that and placed them with his helmet. Wash brought his hands up to rub his temples, hoping that it would ease the pressure that he was feeling._

 

_It didn't help any so he laid back down on the bed and closed his eyes. Maybe this wasn't a headache. Maybe it was a migraine. Wash had never had one before so he didn't really know what they were supposed to be like. Well, other than that they were worse than a normal headache._

 

_Nothing was working. He might be able to sleep it off if that fucking alarm would just stop blaring. As if it understood just how much he wanted it to stop, it did. And thank God, maybe now he could get some sleep._

 

_He should have known better than to think that anything would ever go his way, because a moment later, everything began to shake, it was as if the ship was experiencing an earthquake. The force of the constant shaking threw Wash off of the bed and onto the floor opposite of the chair that his helmet and gloves were on._

 

_The artificial gravity shut off a couple of minutes after that and Wash began to rise from the floor. He grabbed the edge of the bed and pushed off it towards the ceiling. He used the momentum from pushing off the bed to turn himself so that his feet would make contact with the ceiling before pushing off of it in the direction of his helmet, without it he couldn't activate the gravity function in his boots._

 

_With the gravity off and the ship under attack, the alarms reactivated and Wash lost his focus on trying to reclaim his helmet. He brought his hands up to cover his ears instead of grabbing his helmet as he bounced off of the floor and back into the air. He clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut but nothing was helping._

 

_After what felt like forever, the room tilted and the ship began to regain a bit gravity. Anything that wasn't bolted down was floating and began to bounce off of the walls, gaining more force after every bounce, Wash included. Eventually he was pushed into one of the far walls and was trapped there until the ship impacted hard with something and he was thrown back onto the floor, most to the debris coming down on top of him. His head was hurting so much at this point that Wash couldn't find the strength to do anything but lie there._

 

_It took him a couple inhales and exhales to finally notice that he could see his breath and he looked around to see that there was a wide gash in the side of the ship. Beyond the breach, he could see white and with how cold it was, he knew it was snow. They had crashed on a planet somewhere. Or at least he thought it was a planet._

 

_And that was when he heard it. The small cries coming from the back of his mind and the pressure grew worse. He gasped in pain and confusion because North just told him not long ago that they had taken Epsilon out. So why could he hear him now? Was he the reason that his head hurt so much?_

 

 _"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm_ so _sorry," the AI said and then Wash screamed._

 

_His brain felt like it was being split into pieces and torn apart. Even the initial implant hadn't hurt half as bad as this did. Flashes and images passing so fast behind his eyes that they could have been on the fastest fast forward speed that existed. And God, did it hurt._

 

_Wash's hands scrambled to get to the back of his neck, at the base of his skull, his short finger nails clawed and tore at his skin as he tried to pull the AI's chip out of his implants. All the while tears poured from his eyes and he screamed over and over until his voice gave out._

 

_After what felt like days, months, years, a couple of medics finally came into the destroyed room. One of them pulled a syringe out of their pocket and injected it into Wash's neck while the other tried to hold him as still as possible._

 

His eyes snapped open and he flew into a sitting position as a scream tore from his throat. He reached one hand up and grabbed his head, clenching his hair in his fist while the other hand rested against the bed to balance him. It took him 30 seconds to realize that it was a dream, memory, of what happened years ago. After a few deep breaths, he finally calmed himself down and released his hair from his grasp on it. He opened his eyes -when had he shut them again?- and noticed that he wasn't alone in the room that he was staying in.

 

Everyone was standing either by the bed or close to the door. All of them carrying a weapon and wearing their helmets except for Kai -they must have thought that they were under attack or something with the way he screamed-, she was the one positioned closest to him. She was kneeling on the floor next to the bed, one hand clenched into fist and placed in front of her mouth, the other hand had a death grip on the edge of the bed.

 

Wash let his hand fall away from his head and onto the bed, switching his balance to that one. Kai took that chance to launch herself at him and wrap her arms around his chest. His eyes widened slightly at the action and slowly he brought his free arm up and rested it on her back. He looked to the others, hoping that they would tell him what was going on.

 

"Dude, you were screaming so loud that we thought that you were being murdered," Grif explained. That meant that Wash had gotten too lost in the dream -memory- and it had leaked over into reality, "What the fuck were you dreaming about anyway? It scared the hell out of Kai."

 

"I... I dreamed about the crash and.... Epsilon. I didn't mean to wake you all up. It's just... it's my worst memory and it takes full control. It's like I'm there again reliving it," he said as he switched his gaze to the wall next to the bed.

 

"Yeah, it fucking sounded like it too. Seriously, if that's what it's like to have an AI, then I hope I never have to deal with one. I'd rather jump off a cliff, probably less painful that way," Grif said.

 

"You should do it anyway, dirtbag," Sarge mumbled

 

"They weren't all bad. Gamma, Sigma, and Omega were. Delta and Theta were fine. The only reason why Eta and Iota seemed like they were bad was because they were two different emotions that conflicted over what the best thing to do was. If they had been on their own they would have been fine. And Epsilon wasn't bad either, he just drew the short straw and got stuck being memory. He just couldn't handle it anymore," Wash explained.

 

Kai finally drew away from him and brushed her dark brunette bangs out of the way so that she could wiped the tears from her eyes. Strands of her long, wavy hair fell over her shoulders as she pushed herself off of the floor in order to sit on the bed next to him. Everyone else looked at each other and left the room. Well, except Grif.

 

"You seem alright and everything, but if you touch my sister, I will know. I'm lazy and unmotivated usually, but I'll make an exception when it comes to this," he said and then walked out the door. And seriously? Did he just get some sort of shovel talk from _Grif_?

 

"Psh! Just ignore him. I mean as much as I want to bang you, right now doesn't seem like a good time to. Well, unless it'll make you forget. Then now would be the perfect time," Kai... suggested? Was that the word that he was looking for?

 

Wash let out a deep sigh and then let himself fall backwards onto the bed and pulled his left arm over his eyes. Kai laid down next to him and wrapped an arm around his waist before lying her head on his chest. The action surprised him and he moved his arm back onto the bed as he tilted his head to stare at her.

 

"But seriously. I need to talk to you about something important," damn. She hadn't forgotten. He had really been hoping that she had.

 

"What is it that you need to talk to me about?" He asked her cautiously.

 

"So you know how I said that you're hot? Well I've decided that there is a way that you could be even hotter," oh good. Because this wasn't going to make him uncomfortable at all. He really wasn't used to having someone talk to him like this. No one ever had.

 

"I shouldn't ask, but I know that you are going to tell me anyway. How would I do that?" He really needed to stop digging his own grave when it came to dealing with Kai.

 

"This might seem like a strange concept to you, but hear me out; you really should stop dyeing your hair," she told him as she looked up at him, her chin resting on his chest. Wash just laughed bitterly at her suggestion.

 

"I didn't really get much of a choice, Kai. They did it to keep me from being recognized by anyone that might have known me while I was in the psych ward, the Director ordered one of the staff to dye my hair while while I was recovering. When I was better I told them that I didn't want them to dye my hair and they told me that I didn't have a choice. They said that if I didn't do what I was told, that they would never sign my release form. After that they told me that I had to keep dyeing it or they would send me back. No matter how much they needed me."

 

"There's another reason why they did it, isn't there?"

 

"They did it to cover their own ass. When we joined the Project, they listed all of our real names as KIA after about a month had passed. They never worried about us being seen on missions because we always wore our armor. Think about it, if someone that I had served with before the Project had been there and seen me, it would raise questions about why a dead person was walking around and then it would open an investigation about the Project. Something that the Director really couldn't allow to happen because of everything he had done."

 

"Well, guess you don't have to do it anymore, do you?" Kai asked and Wash just smiled a little at the thought of being completely himself again.

 

Sure it had been a little funny when York pranked him by getting him drunk and then convincing him to dye it during the Project, but he liked his natural hair color. It was a reminder of his family. He'd probably never get to see them again since they were most likely dead and his features were his way to remember what they looked like. Any pictures that he had of them were lost in the crash. And with all the memories that Epsilon dumped into this head, he had lost some of the memories he had from before the Project.

 

"No, I guess I don't," he said as he closed his eyes again. This time he didn't open them again. Wash had fallen back asleep from the exhaustion that he still felt.


	13. Reconstruction: There Is No Lions And Tigers And Bears, There Is Only Knives, Hornets, And Freelancers, Oh My

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it. As always, I hope you all enjoy it!

Wash was annoyed. He had finally gotten a decent nights sleep for once and some fucker had to come in and ruin it. If they didn't shut up and let him sleep, he was going to kill them. And it was going to be gruesome too. Briefly, he wondered if he could find a wood chipper and throw the person that was irritating him into it. Or maybe he could cut them up and put them in a blender. That would be interesting. Or he could do things in a way that he hadn't done for a very long time.

 

He slowly pushed his free hand under the pillow and gripped the hilt of the combat knife that he had placed there the night before. He cracked his eyes open just enough to see who was disturbing him. Once he saw where his targets were, Wash pulled the knife out and threw it between the two of them, landing it in the double bullseye of the cork dartboard that hung on the wall by the door. Both men jumped and yelped, they looked from the knife in bullseye to Wash who had his eyes fully open and glaring at them.

 

"Dude! What the fuck!?" Grif cried and Church nodded in agreement with the question.

 

"Obviously you two have never heard of letting dangerous creatures lie. I may not be part of the program anymore, but I _am_ still a Freelancer. Weapons are my specialty," he told them. Kai giggled into his chest. He wasn't sure how, but sometime after he had fallen asleep, she had managed to go from lying on the side facing the edge of the bed to the side by the wall, "What are you two even doing in here?"

 

"Gee, I don't know, Sleeping Beauty, usually you haul us all away at the ass crack of dawn and right now, it's almost 9am. I came to make sure that you didn't kick the bucket after last night and he's here because Kai is here," Church told him. Well shit. This is what sleep deprivation does to a person. It makes them late when they finally do sleep.

 

Wash sighed and removed his arm from around Kai's waist, she groaned in protest while removing her hand and head from where they were placed on his chest. Kai sat up and glared at both of them while Wash pushed himself off of the bed. He wouldn't admit it, but he was just as upset as Kai was about having to get up.

 

"I hate you both," Kai stated as Wash was putting his armor pieces back on, "I finally got him in bed and I didn't even get the chance to fuck him before you two showed up."

 

Wash sighed and just continued put his armor on. He heard Kai get out of bed and then the sound of Church and Grif moaning in pain. He turned to face them with his helmet in his hands and saw both of them hunched over holding their stomachs. He watched Kai brush her hair over her shoulder and then storm out of the room. Wash shook his head and then put his helmet on.

 

"Once Kai is ready, we'll leave. The Outpost should only be a few hours from here," he told them as he walked over to the dartboard and pulled out his knife, "Hm... Not bad. I haven't done that in years. Guess it's like riding a bike."

 

He watched Church and Grif share a look out of the corner of his eye. Wash gave a slight smile of amusement and walked out of the room, returning the knife to the sheath that was attached to the inside of his left forearm. He really should pick up some more knives. He missed using them.

*

If he hadn't been wearing his helmet, Wash would have been pinching the bridge of his nose while doing his breathing exercise. They were now about 10 minutes away from Outpost 17 and he was reminded all over again that it would just be so easy to kill them all and be done with it. The last three and a half hours had pushed him far passed the edge of his patience.

 

The entire trip had been a giant argument between the Reds and Blues -minus Kai, she just watched- about who had kicked whose ass the most back in Blood Gulch. And really? How the hell were they able to argue about it for over three fucking hours!? Just a little more and and then he -probably- wouldn't have to listen to them for a while. Hopefully.

 

Wash inhaled deeply and then exhaled, "Enough! We'll be there in a few minutes and we really don't want to let them know that we're coming. We'll head up alongside the cliff to the ledge and then sneak in and grab the vehicles."

 

"I gotta better idea," Sarge said, "We can get a car! No problem! We're better with vehicles than the Blues!"

 

"That's debatable," Church snorted.

 

He knew that he was going to regret this, but he decided fuck it. If all else failed, Wash could just grab another jeep while they distracted the guards. So he nodded in agreement and lead the Blues up to the ledge.

 

"So, why did you agree to let them do this? They're fucking morons," Church asked.

 

"I figure that when they fuck up, I'll at least get some decent entertainment out of it. And then I'll go steal a jeep while they distract the guards," he shrugged.

 

"That doesn't sound like a very nice thing to do," Caboose told him and he just shrugged again. He didn't plan on telling them that this was his revenge on the Reds for all the irritation that they had caused him since they showed up.

 

"I'm sure they'll be fine," he said as he saw the Reds come flying around the far side of the Blue Base, another Warthog with two guards in it following closely behind and shooting at them.

 

Wash leaned against the tree and watched as the Reds drove into the river and followed it before ending up back on land. The other Warthog came up beside them as they drove back into the river next to the Red Base. When they came back around the corner, the other Warthog was gone and Grif pulled to a stop. The jeep that they were driving was all shot up and Wash was pretty sure that they couldn't use it anymore.

 

"Aw man, that jeep has a really big gun," Caboose said as the other Warthog came driving out of Red Base.

 

"Don't get any ideas," Church told Caboose and Kai giggled at that.

 

Wash shook his head, they needed those jeeps. Which meant that Wash now had to interfere. With a sigh, he pushed off the tree and began walking down the hill, "Guess it's time to go rescue the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion from the Wicked Witch's Flying Monkeys. I'm really starting to hate having to save their asses all the time."

 

"Well at least you're getting a lot of practice at it!" Caboose called.

 

Wash paused and tilted his head back that them, "Don't patronize me. And Kai, go get the remaining jeep from Blue Base. Toto, guard Dorothy and make sure he stays out of trouble."

 

"You got it, Agent Hottie!" Kai cheered and then took off down the other side of the hill as Wash continued his journey to the Reds.

 

"Heh-heh- Wait a minute! Which one of us are you calling a woman?! It had better fucking be Caboose!" Church yelled and Wash decided it would be better to let him wonder which one he had called a woman. He just hoped that Church would wait until they got the jeeps before going to see Texas' body. That way Wash would be able to save his ass if he got into trouble.

 

When he got to the bottom of the hill, he walked off in the direction that he had just seen the Reds go. He heard Grif shouting about how he thought he could make a jump and Wash decided that it would be better to run. As he ran around the boulder, he was met with the sight of the Reds' Warthog teetering a little off the cliff and the other Warthog driving passed them and over the edge where it was blown up by Simmons shooting it. Wash ran passed the Reds and looked over the edge to see the other Warthog on fire and destroyed.

 

"You idiots! We needed that jeep!" He was really frustrated right now. They couldn't use the one that the Reds were in because it was all shot up and there was only the one that he sent Kai to get left.

 

"Uh yeah, and we needed not to die," Grif said, "What's your point?"

 

"There's still six of us. Where are we going to get another vehicle?" He asked them as a sound came from behind him. Wash turned and saw a Hornet hovering in the air, "...Well, looks like the Wicked Witch decided to crash the party. Lovely."

 

"Hey, dude? In the future, don't ask for shit!" Grif said.

 

The Hornet opened fire on them and Wash took off back the way that they came. The Reds somehow managed to pull the jeep from the edge of the cliff and turn it around, speeding passed him. Wash turned and headed behind a boulder to the right of him. He went down the hill and heard the Hornet fly by, more than likely chasing the Reds. When he got to the bottom of the hill, he found that he was facing the Blue Base and saw one of the guards head into the base.

 

Because of course Church wouldn't wait for help. Wash growled in frustration and looked up at the hill where he had left Caboose and Church. Caboose was twitching nervously and trying to look at anything but Church's body and Church's body was still with no movement coming from it.

 

"Toto, I thought I told you to guard Dorothy and make sure that he stays out of trouble," he hissed over the radio.

 

_"But Church told me that I was Dorothy and that he was supposed to watch me. You know, he is just, he is doing a really good job too."_

 

"Well in that case, put him on, I want to tell him that he's doing an excellent job," he said sarcastically while rolling his eyes.

 

_"He said that in order to do the watching thing right, that he, uh, had to stay really quiet. And not move."_

 

A couple of missiles were fired from the Hornet and hit the ground, causing it to shake and in return, Church's body fell over. Which meant that he was right and that that was Church that just went into Blue Base.

 

"Toto, stay. I'm going to go kill Dorothy," he hissed before cutting the connection and heading out into the open area. Wash got as close to the Reds as he could, "Keep distracting it! I have to go deal with Church!"

 

Wash clenched his teeth in anger and stormed over to Blue Base. He saw the other guard go in which meant that Church had fucked up and that he was now in trouble. Just fucking great. With no guards to stop him, Wash walked right into the base and down the hall. He turned the corner and walked into the area where the flag was usually kept.

 

He saw Church trying to find an excuse to get out of being shot by the guard who had his gun pointed at him. Wash just walked up behind the guard and slammed the butt of his rifle into the back of the man's head. Church looked at the man and then at Wash.

 

"Thanks, Wash," Church said.

 

"Don't thank me yet, Church. I'm going to kick your fucking ass for not waiting for me to help you. I had to leave the _Reds_ to handle a Hornet," he hissed.

 

Church must have decided that he would be safe from Wash's wrath if he left the guard's body. Wash took one look at the still standing, confused guard and then slammed the butt of his rifle into the man's visor. He didn't know if the guard would have stayed conscious after Church removed himself and Wash decided that it was better to be safe than sorry. He turned his attention back to Church and glared, even if he couldn't see it.

 

"She's not here. She's like me, Wash. So she should be here," Wash was pretty sure that if AI's could cry, that Church would be. He felt bad about not telling Church about Texas but he didn't want to cause anymore stress to the Alpha. He didn't want to hurt him like the Director had.

 

"I'm sure you'll find her. She's just not here. Maybe she went to someplace that she liked," or someplace that she didn't have a choice about. But Wash really didn't want to think of that right now.

 

"Maybe. I guess I'll just have to keep looking for her," Church said as the sound of an explosion reached them and shook the base.

 

"Now what!?" Wash cried in frustration. Nothing ever seemed to go right for him. And then he remembered that he left the Reds to deal with the Hornet. Damn it.

 

Wash ran out of the base and Church's hologram followed him. When he got outside, he saw the Warthog speed passed them and a missile right behind it. It missed the Warthog and exploded once it hit the ground. And Jesus Christ, he was so sick of this shit.

 

"Are you three done playing tag with the Hornet yet? Kai's getting the jeep from Blue Base and then we're leaving," he yelled at them as they drove passed again. He still needed to check his clearance with Command. He didn't want to do it until they were ready to go though. Knowing his luck, he probably didn't have any clearance but it was still worth a try to check.

 

"What about the ship!?" Sarge called as they drove passed Church and him again.

 

"Well take it down!" He yelled. He already knew that they wouldn't be able to, but maybe they could actually pull it off. He snorted at that thought.

 

"Not that simple!" Sarge yelled.

 

"If it's so easy, why don't _you_ do it!?" Grif screamed as they drove passed yet again.

 

"Jesus Christ," Wash muttered, "Why can't anything ever go right."

 

He aimed his assault rifle and the Hornet and fired a few rounds at it to get the pilot's attention. Wash ran forward towards it, still shooting as the Hornet spun to face him. Wash turned and ran in the direction of Red Base, the Hornet following him and shooting off a missile. It missed and Wash spun so that he was running backwards. He fired a few more rounds at the Hornet and it spun back to facing his direction, firing rounds from it's gatling gun.

 

Wash ran up the cliff that the Reds had tried to jump and picked up a higher powered rifle than the one he carried. He attached his assault rifle to the mag strip on his back and then proceeded to fire rounds at the Hornet with the rifle he picked up. The Hornet continued to fire at him with the gatling gun and Wash ran down the hill of the cliff until he reached the bottom. He turned so that he was running backwards again and fired at the Hornet.

 

The Hornet shot a missile at him in between rounds from the gatling gun and Wash turned and ran in the direction of Red Base again, dodging and weaving to avoid getting hit. The missile hit the canyon wall and blew up. Wash ran up the side of the cliff closest to Red Base and stopped at the top. Lucky for him, the Hornet had to switch where it was aiming and that gave Wash the chance to fire at the edge of one of the fuel cells next to the grav lift. It toppled over and landed in the blue beam of the grav lift, sending it flying at the Hornet.

 

Wash dodged the shots from the Hornet's gatling gun and watched as the fuel cell came within feet of the Hornet and then he fired at the fuel cell, causing it to blow up right in front of the Hornet's windshield. The explosion caused the windshield to break and it heavily damaged the Hornet. It stopped firing and Wash ran back in the direction of the others as the Hornet lost control and started to spiral. Wash had just made it back when the Hornet fell behind him and exploded.

 

"Ding dong the bitch is dead. Now let's go," he deadpanned. Everyone was silent and Wash noticed that Kai still hadn't come back yet. He sighed and amended his statement, "Never mind. Let's go find out what the hell is taking Kai so long."

 

He walked passed them and in the direction of Blue Base. When got to the back of the base, he noticed Kai standing there and staring in the direction of the Warthog. He stopped next to her and she turned to look at him, just as the others arrived.

 

"You know, I just realized something. We can't all go in jeeps. They wouldn't let us in and then we would be fucked," she told him and Wash realized that she was right.

 

"Mister Washington?" Caboose called and Wash turned to look at him, "I have an idea."

 

 _Well, this should be good,_ he thought and gave Caboose the go ahead to continue.

 

"We drive there," and dear God, he really shouldn't have even bothered.

 

"I knew he was bluffing!" Church said.

 

"We're going to Freelancer City, right? The place where Freelancer's from. And this is a Freelancer car! If they think that we are Freelancers, because we are in their car, they will just let us right in!" Caboose explained in excitement.

 

"None of you look like Freelancers. Or Recovery Agents and we already covered that they wouldn't let us in if we drive there in jeeps," he tried to explain. Caboose looked at the tank and then at them.

 

"They can't see inside of a tank," and holy shit. Caboose actually had a good idea.

 

Wash and Kai exchanged a look and then Kai began giving the Reds orders to get in the fucking tank. Caboose was going to be riding with Wash because he was the only one with Blue armor that was going with them. They had decided last night that Caboose would play the role of a survivor from Outpost 17 and that he was being brought in for questioning. They just hadn't thought of the fact that it would be too suspicious if they all showed up out in the open.

 

Wash finally got the nerve to look at his datapad to check his clearance level. To his surprise, they hadn't listed him as a rogue Agent yet. That meant that they could pull this off. Wash turned to Church, "Do you want us to drop you off someplace?"

 

"Nah. I think I'm going to head back to Blood Gulch and see if Tex is there or if she was and left a message. See ya, Wash," he said and turned to leave. He was tackled by Caboose, who proceeded to hug him as hard as he could.

 

"I'm going to miss you, Church! You will come back though, right?" Caboose asked.

 

"If I find Tex, then yeah, I'll find you. See you later, buddy," Church said and Caboose finally let him go.

 

They watched as Church turned and walked off, disappearing from sight a moment later. He silently wish him luck. Who knows, maybe Texas really was out there somewhere. Wash turned to Caboose and ushered him into the jeep. They had a few loose ends to tie up after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, fun fact: At first I didn't have the _Wizard of Oz_ reference. It was actually another reference to saving the damsels in distress. But as I was editing the chapter, my mp3 player shuffled to the song _Home_ by Breaking Benjamin. And then this happened.
> 
> Also, wood chippers are a running joke with me. Even if I don't own one, I still threaten to throw people into one when I'm irritated with them.
> 
> If you have any questions about the chapter, feel free to ask!


	14. Reconstruction: I'm Running Out Of Road But I'm Still Doing 75

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: the title of this chapter comes from the song _Taipei Person/Allah Tea_ by the band Stone Sour.
> 
> Also, we're now halfway through this story. Woohoo! I hope you all enjoy it! If you have any questions about the chapter feel free to ask!

The drive had only taken them a couple of hours and Wash checked his clearance one more time once the Command Center came into view. For some reason he was still in the clear so they continued passed the gates and into the check in point. As he was pulling up to the guard, Wash leaned over and told Caboose that he needed to be quite for a couple of minutes or they would get caught.

 

"There was an attack at Outpost 17B. During the attack, we discovered a surviving member of the Blue Team hiding out in one of the caves. I think there's something wrong with him, but the Counselor wants to question him anyway," Wash told the guard.

 

"Let me just check to make sure that your story checks out," the guard said as he walked off.

 

"Am I doing a good job, Mister Washington?" Caboose whispered to Wash.

 

"You're doing great, Caboose. Just stay quiet a little longer, okay?" Wash said and Caboose nodded. Not a moment later, the guard returned.

 

"Alright. Uh, story checks out. Looks like there was a new incident at Outpost 17B. Good luck with him by the way. You're clear now. So drive on to Building 3," the guard said.

 

"Thanks, I'll probably need it," Wash said and pulled the jeep forward, the tank following behind them, "That seemed a little too easy. I'm probably just being paranoid though."

 

"I do not think that you are the thing that you said!" Caboose said, and Wash thought that he was just saying that to make him feel better. It didn't help and he still felt uneasy.

 

Wash pulled into the Command Center's vehicle bay and parked the jeep. He got out of the vehicle and Caboose did the same. They watched as Kai parked the tank and then climbed out, the Reds following suit. Once they were gathered, Wash lead them over to the next building and then up a couple of sets of stairs and into the Command Center's main computer terminal room. Wash turned to the group. He had a plan and he was sure that at least one of them was going to hate it.

 

"Alright, we're in. But that's only part of our mission. I still need to reach the AI storage facility. Security's tight here since Texas tried to break into the _Mother of Invention_ and steal the Alpha before. They decided that it would be better to put any of the remaining AI that they transferred here under heavy guard."

 

"Question; is the Alpha here too?" Grif asked.

 

"No. The Alpha was never brought here. They placed him somewhere that they thought that he would be safe. Turns out that they fucked up. The Alpha's host got killed. For some reason though, they never did anything about it," Wash explained.

 

"Wait a minute... You don't mean... Church. Do you?" Simmons asked. Wash just sighed and nodded.

 

"So you mean to tell me, that Blue Boy isn't actually a ghost? That he's some sorta computer program?" Sarge asked.

 

"Yeah. And so is Texas. She's the Beta AI. I'm pretty sure that she knew that though and if she never told Church then there must have been a reason. I didn't have the heart to tell him after everything that the Director put him through. Learning that just might break him again and I didn't want to do what the Director did to him. So I left it alone," he said and everyone just stayed silent thinking about what he said.

 

"I knew that he was. I figured it out after Tex shot him," Kai admitted and the group stared at her. 

 

Wash decided that it was time to put an end to the heart to heart. They - _he_ \- had things to do and he had to do them soon. He knew that the Meta was here now. It could have gotten in while they were at the Outpost yet, but Sigma was smarter than that. He would lie low until he had the perfect chance. And that chance was sneaking in with them somehow.

 

"I have the necessary clearance to get close to the storage hall. My plan is to take Kai with me as a prisoner. If I take more than one of you with me, it won't be believable," he told them.

 

"Why the fuck are you taking Kai with you!?" Grif demanded.

 

"I'm taking her because so far, she hasn't let me down. Plus I know that she's a decent shot if we have any problems," he answered and Grif seemed to calm down a little but not very much. Wash knew that he would be pissed about his plan. But Wash trusted Kai.

 

"Don't worry, Dex! Agent Hottie hasn't let anything happen to me so far and I doubt that he'll let anything happen to me now. We'll be fine. You just worry about yourselves," she said and Wash felt his heart rate pick up at her unwavering faith in him.

 

She had trusted in him since the beginning and Wash knew that he was in trouble when it came to her. He finally understood everything that he had been feeling about her; somehow, somewhere along the way, Wash had come to like Kaikaina Grif. As in more than friends. And now, he probably wouldn't even have a chance with her because he had come too far to back out of his plan now. He was going to finish this no matter what.

 

"You guys hole up here and wait for us to come back with Epsilon. And try not to break anything too badly," he said.

 

"How will we know when you're done?" Sarge asked.

 

"When you see every guard in the base running in one direction, that means that we're probably in trouble," he answered, "Just keep the guards off of us and we'll let you know when we have Epsilon. This will be our extraction point."

 

"Keep them off of you? How?" Grif asked as Wash and Kai walked passed them to the ramp that would take them where they needed to go.

 

"Well I know for sure that this is center that came up with all of those ridiculous scenarios you guys have suffered through over the years. I'm not sure if you'll find the proof that you're looking for here though. You'll have to go through the computers to see if you can find anything," he told them and then turned around to follow Kai down the ramp and into the hallway.

 

They walked down a few halls in silence and then Wash fell back a little further and aimed his rifle at Kai's back as they followed the curve of the hall to the check point. Kai had her shotgun attached to the mag strip on her back and her pistol attached to the one on her thigh. They walked up to the guards and were stopped.

 

"Hold on, don't come any closer. I need you to stay right there, Sir," one of the guards said.

 

"Understood. I need access to the next level. The Counselor wants to interrogate another survivor from Outpost 17B," Wash said. He knew it wouldn't work but it was only meant to give Kai enough time to slowly grab her pistol.

 

"What!? I thought that there were no other survivors from Valhalla. Where'd this one come from?" The guard questioned.

 

"I don't have to explain anything to you, soldier. Stand down," he commanded.

 

"Sorry Sir, I didn't mean anything by that-" the guard started but Wash cut him off.

 

"That's fine. I'll let it go. As you were."

 

"Something doesn't seem right to me. I'm gonna have to call this in," the guard told him and Wash was perfectly okay with that once he saw that Kai had her pistol in her hand.

 

"Absolutely. Call it in. Let me just-," Kai ducked into a crouch and Wash fired his rifle at the guard he had been talking with, "Now!"

 

The guard that Wash targeted fell dead from the head shot and Kai raised her pistol and fired it at the second guard, landing a shot to his head as well. After the guard fell, Wash walked up to the first guard and searched him for his access card. Once he found it, he slid it through the card reader slot by the door. When it opened, Wash and Kai walked through the door and into the hall that would take them to the storage facility.

 

About 20 feet in, they found the door that they were looking for and Wash entered the code that he had received from Epsilon's memory dump. Wash knew that it would work because in every memory, the Director had always used the same set of access codes. The date of the day that the Director had married Allison, his wife's first name, the date that they met, and Allison's birthday. He never could let her go.

 

They walked through the door and down several flights of stairs. Finally, they came to the door of the storage facility and Wash entered the code again. They walked into the open hall and he saw Kai gazing around in wonder at the layout. Wash stopped and fully turned to face Kai.

 

"This is it. Do me a favor and close the door would you? I'm gonna go find Epsilon. And when I do, every soldier on base is sure to come running. So be ready," he said and turned to walk over to the area that he just knew that Epsilon would be.

 

"Yes Sir, Agent Hottie! Oh and just so you know, I added a few more reasons to my list. Including you're commanding voice. It's fucking hot!" She said and then skipped away.

 

Wash felt his heart clench. It wasn't fair but he had to do it. It was too late to stop now and he had to make sure that Epsilon survived the E.M.P. since he was Wash's only chance to be cleared of all charges. And the only person he trusted to get Epsilon clear of the blast was Kai. He would make sure that she lived even if he had to sacrifice himself to ensure it. And he would be. Someone had to keep the Meta from going after them.

 

Wash stopped at the farthest wall back in front of the fifth storage unit. This is where they put Epsilon. Wash reached a hand towards the unit but stopped short of touching it. He took a deep breath and called Kai over.

 

"So this is Epsilon, huh?" She asked even though he knew that she already knew the answer to that.

 

"Yeah. Get ready, I'm going to grab Epsilon and then the alarm should start going off. We'll have a short window to make it as far from here as we can," he told her.

 

"Got it," she said and then checked her pistols ammo. It carried more rounds than the shotgun so it was probably for the best that she chose to use that one.

 

Wash reached his hand into the holographic storage unit and grabbed hold of Epsilon's containment unit. Slowly, he pulled it out and attached it to the mag strip on his back. He turned to Kai and nodded, both of them took off running back to the main computer terminal. So far, the alarm hadn't gone off.

 

They made it back up the stairs and into the hallway that lead back to the Reds and Caboose when the alarm sounded. They had been discovered. They made it to the door and Wash swiped the access card quickly. On the other side, three guards were waiting for them and Wash quickly shot two of them while Kai shot the last one. They ran around the curve of the hall and the sound of footsteps reached them. They ducked into the hall that lead to the ramp as the guards started shooting at them.

 

Wash pushed Kai into the doorway and then shut the door behind him before following Kai up the ramp and into the terminal. They stopped at the top of the ramp and Wash saw everyone standing around by the computer. He briefly wondered if they had found what they were looking for before casting that thought aside.

 

"What's the status up here?" He asked them.

 

"Fucked up, 'bout to die, Simmons is a nerd... the usual," Grif answered.

 

"Looks like we've got at least half a dozen squads out there. They know our position, and we're out gunned," Sarge said.

 

"So basically we're fucked. And not in the way that I like to be fucked either," Kai stated.

 

"We were planning to go down that hallway until you two brought up more guards. Now our only option is to go down swinging. You first," Sarge said to Wash. All Wash could think about was punching the man because that was exactly what he was going to do and he didn't want to think about it right now. He didn't want to think about leaving Kai.

 

"Hey Simmons, can you get back on that computer and change my affiliation from Red to Freelancer?" Grif asked and Wash had a horrible feeling that they fucked something up. Badly.

 

"Traitor," Simmons spat as Kai slowly began to move so that she was positioned behind Simmons.

 

"Hey, you gotta go with the winner," Grif responded and Wash watched as Kai started reading what was on the screen.

 

"Um, could you change my job title to something more important like astronaut- Oh, I know, Space Marine!" Caboose supplied to the conversation.

 

"Oh you fucking assholes!" Kai screamed at them, "You deleted us from the system!? Now how the fuck am I going to pay off the rest of my doctors bills!?"

 

"Seriously Kai!? How many times did you have to get an abortion!?" Grif interrogated. Kai flinched from the accusation and Wash could tell that she was upset by what her brother had said.

 

"Is that really what you think of me? That I'm just some slut because I love sex?" She asked, "For your information, I had to get a surgery done so that I could join the military and find you! They don't allow people with colorblindness in. So I had to get it fixed! And I used all the money that I had saved up that you sent to get it done! I still have the follow up exam visits to pay for!"

 

Wash was stunned. He had never expected someone to go to such lengths for someone they love. No one ever had for him. And as much as he loved his own family, he knew that none of them would do something that drastic just to find him -if any of them were even still alive. Now he had something new to worry about when it came to Kai; if she felt anything for him like he suspected that she did, then she might not do what he was going to ask her to do.

 

"I thought that you guys were going to find proof?" He asked.

 

"We were. Until Simmons found the personnel section. It just felt right. So now Red wins. Suck it Blues," Sarge answered.

 

"Jesus Christ, I'd rather be dealing with the Meta than dealing with this shit," his statement was followed by a loud bang coming from the roof.

 

"Didn't I tell you to quit asking for shit!?" Grif yelled at him as all the gunfire from outside the base stopped. After a moment, it started back up again. This time none of the bullets were aimed at where they were holed up. They only hit the base when the soldiers outside missed their target.

 

"So, uh, does anyone know, um, how the scary person got in?" Caboose asked.

 

"What do you mean how? It took us like ten minutes. Not that hard," Simmons explained.

 

"Perfect," he said and everyone turned to look at him. He hadn't told them that he had planned for the Meta to show up. The only one that had any inkling of what he was planning was Kai.

 

"What do ya mean 'perfect'?" Sarge demanded.

 

"It's been following me since just after I picked up Kai. I knew it couldn't resist getting it's hands on all the stored Command AIs. Especially Epsilon once it learned that he was still around," he told them.

 

"You knew about this!?" Simmons squeaked.

 

"Knew about it? I planned on it. Now let's get Epsilon to safety. Then I can finish this. Once and for all," he said as he turned and walked out of the door that would lead them to this buildings vehicle bay.

 

When they arrived, he lead them over to the row of jeeps and then stopped. He unlatched Epsilon from his mag strip and placed a hand over the unit. It was glowing but showed no signs of life otherwise. He silently apologized to the AI and then turned to Kai. Holding the unit out to her.

 

"Everyone is out fighting the Meta. You three grab a vehicle. And I hate to ask this, but Caboose, can you drive?" he asked the Blue soldier.

 

"Yes but not an automatic; only stick," he responded. Kai still hadn't taken Epsilon from him and he figured that she was waiting for an explanation.

 

"Why can't you drive- never mind. Grab that car," he told the man and then turned his attention back to Kai, "I need you to take Epsilon, Kai. You're the only one that I trust to get him to safety and into the hands of the authorities. I won't be able to have my name cleared from everything the Project has done without this. Please?"

 

Kai slowly reached out and took the unit after she placed her pistol on the mag strip on her thigh. She held it gently against her chest and nodded before walking over to the jeep that Caboose had picked out. Wash felt his chest tighten because this was the end. He was never going to see her again. And this would be her last memory of him. Walking away just like everyone else had done to her. But he had always known that it was going to end like this.

 

"You guys are gonna make a break for it," he told them.

 

"You're not comin'?" Sarge asked.

 

"No. I'm staying. Project Freelancer had one last resort Failsafe; a high powered E.M.P. that can wipe out all the AI in this facility. Now that the Meta is here I have a chance to take them all out at once and put this entire Project out of commission. Checkmate," he told them.

 

"What's an E.M.P.?" Grif asked and Wash rolled his eyes.

 

"It's an electromagnetic pulse. It wipes out all circuitry and computers it touches. It will destroy the AI-," Simmons cut him off.

 

"Oh, you mean an Emp," everyone else started agreeing with Simmons and Wash was getting annoyed again.

 

"That's not how you say it," he said, "You know what. Fuck it. I don't have time to argue with you about this. I'm going to work my way down to the Director's lab while the rest of you escape."

 

"What if the Meta follows us?" Sarge asked.

 

"It won't. There's no chance that it can resist all of the AI stored here. It's time for you all to get moving," he told them as he attached his rifle to the mag strip on his back.

 

Kai walked over to him and pulled her helmet off. Her emerald eyes glared at him until he did the same. Once it was off, he looked back at her.

 

"You better not die here. I still haven't fucked you yet," she said and Wash gave her a small smile.

 

"Don't worry about me. Once everything is all cleared up, I promise that I'll come find you. You're the only one I trust after all," he mostly lied. She just tilted her head like she was trying to decide what to do and then she nodded to herself.

 

Kai closed the rest of the distance between them and grabbed the edge of his chest plate, pulling him down to her so that he was eye level with her, "You better not be lying about that or I swear to God that I will _never_ forgive you," and then she kissed him. His eyes flew open in surprise at the action before he gave in and kissed her back.

 

After a moment, she pulled away and winked at him, "Let that be a reminder of just why you should come back."

 

Wash blinked a few times to try and return to the present and then put his helmet back on. Kai put hers on as well and then hopped into the jeep that Caboose was in. Wash sighed and then walked over to the hanger door. He moved to the panel and then turned to face them.

 

"Alright. Stick to the plan. Get Epsilon out of here. Make sure that he gets to the authorities," he told them when they pulled up to the hanger doors.

 

"Sarge, shouldn't we help him? He won't stand a chance against that thing," Simmons asked and Wash just shook his head.

 

"Don't worry about me. Just drive. I'll be calling you over the radio with a false message that I know that the Meta will be listening in on," he paused, "When the E.M.P. goes off, it'll destroy Epsilon if you're not far enough away. Protect the Blues' vehicle at all costs. And take care of yourselves."

 

"You got it, Mister Washington," Caboose said.

 

"Protect the Blues, right, yeah. We'll get right on that shit," Sarge said sarcastically but Wash knew that they would anyway. They had been through far too much together after all.

 

"You better not break your promise," Kai said to him.

 

"I won't," he lied as he opened the hanger door. Caboose drove out the door and then stopped next to the building, the Reds followed suit and Wash tuned his radio to their channel, "That's it. Lead the Meta as far away from the base as possible."

 

Once his message was delivered, Wash turned and ran back through the hanger and up the stairs. He made it back into the computer terminal and took off down the ramp. He quickly unlocked the door and turned to head back to the door that lead to the storage facility. Once he was there, he entered the code and took off down the stairs. He went one floor farther down from the holographic storage facility and entered the code into the door at the bottom of the stairs.

 

Wash ran across the platform and down the ramp, around the corner to the next flat platform and then down the next ramp. This continued until he reached the ground floor of the lab. He ran through the empty area and through the archway that lead to the computer that he needed. Just as he passed it, the security system gave off a warning about a breach and he wasn't sure if it was because of him or because of the Meta. It just meant that he didn't have much time.

 

He had just made it to the computer when a voice called out to him from the speakers, _"Agent Washington. Good to see you, again."_

 

He looked around trying to locate the source of the voice that he knew very well, "Oh, hello. Are you somewhere nearby, Counselor? Somewhere I can say hello, in person?"

 

 _"Sorry, Agent Washington. But we were more than prepared for this... eventuality. I'm afraid we will not be able to see each other, in person, today,"_ well damn. Wash had really been hoping that he could put a bullet in the man's head.

 

"Well then you'll excuse me if I don't feel like putting up with this bullshit. I'm on a timetable after all," he snarked and really, he could understand now why Church did it so much. It was kind of fun to piss people off.

 

Wash turned to the computer and started entering what he needed to to find and activate the E.M.P., _"There is someone else, here, that would like to speak with you."_

 

 _"Well, hello, Agent Washington,"_ he paused and looked up at the 'eye' in the ceiling. He knew it was a camera and that it was where the speaker was. They were watching him. They always had been and he knew that. He'd known for a very long time that they had been.

 

"The Director, himself," he let out a cold laugh, "I should have figured that what I'm doing would be enough to draw your attention. Then again, I've had it for a while now. Just like I know that the only reason you didn't have me eliminated after South's report was so that I could take care of the Meta for you."

 

 _"It has been a while, David. May I call you David?"_ The Director ignored his statement. Wash was furious at the question. After everything that they had done. They erased that name and the only person that he would even consider allowing to call him by his actual name at this point was Kai.

 

"No. You can't," he hissed, "You erased that name and gave me this one. So use it."

 

_"I am certain you that you have a lot of questions, Wash."_

 

"Not really. But there is one pressing question that I simply _must_ know the answer to; how do I turn off this fucking speaker? I'm a little busy at the moment," he hissed and turned back to the computer. They were trying to waste time and he wasn't going to allow them to do that anymore.

 

_"Warning. Security breach detected."_

 

He looked over at the warning and switched then screen over to the containment shield. The Meta had caught up to him and he had run out of time. He needed to do this now or he would be dead before he could finish. He activated the shield and saw the Meta slam into it before he switched back to accessing the E.M.P. Once he got it up, he had to wait for the system to charge it to full power.

 

_"Well, the prodigal son returns. Agent Maine, you have caused quite a few problems for us. You will not be leaving, this time."_

 

Wash snorted, "Keep telling yourself that. Maybe if you keep believing that, it might actually come true one day. Good luck with that."

 

_"You would be surprised at what we are capable of, even from this distance. I suggest you work with us, if you expect to survive this."_

 

He laughed coldly again, "Survive? I knew from the beginning that I was never going to survive this. Even if I had taken out the Meta before coming here, I would have only lived long enough to activate the E.M.P. before every guard in the facility was on me. I was never going to walk out of here alive."

 

The E.M.P. only had 10 percent more to charge. If he could just hold them off for another few minutes then it would all be over. His luck never did work that way though.

 

_"How did you get those codes?"_

 

"Like you don't already know that. You always did suspect that I knew more than I was telling," he answered.

 

_"So it was Epsilon. He inherited the memories."_

 

_"The Failsafe is now online. Awaiting activation codes. Warning. This is a last resort measure. Activating the Failsafe will destroy all electronic equipment in this facility, including this terminal. Please confirm."_

 

"I've known about what you've done since the moment that you implanted him in me," he said as he began typing in the activation codes. Only two more sets to go and then it was all over.

 

_"Well, then I am very sorry, Agent Washington. But Project Freelancer no longer has need of your services. Program? Disable interior shields."_

 

"What!?" His eyes widened and he turned just in time to see Meta pull out it's pistol.

 

_"Agent Maine? Please kill Agent Washington."_

 

He quickly pulled his pistol from his thigh and tried to shoot the Meta first but the Meta had had more time to pull the trigger than Wash and the shot pierced through is chest and into his left lung. He fell backwards onto the floor and coughed up blood. He rolled onto his right side and tried to use the edge of the computer to pull himself up. He only made it to his knees while the Meta was distracted with the Director and Counselor about the Alpha.

 

The computer was informing him of his own incoming Recovery Beacon and that it was Level Zero. He switched back to the Failsafe and entered the final code. He slammed his hand onto the activation button, because he was so fucking sick of this bullshit and he just wanted to bleed to death in peace. Not while listening to them.

 

 _"Thank you. Failsafe initiated. Activating Emp."_ That was bullshit also but right now he didn't even care. All he cared about was that it was finally over.

 

The bright magnetic shock wave tore through the room, throwing it into darkness as it took out all the electricity. He heard the Meta let out a loud snarl and watched as it collapsed onto the floor. After a minute, it went silent and Wash knew that the stress of losing the AIs had knocked it unconscious. Wash pressed against the wound on his chest to try and slow the bleeding as he fell back to the floor.

 

Blood pooled in his mouth and he coughed it out to keep from choking on it. He rolled onto his right side and lied there. The pressure wasn't working and he could feel his strength fading and the edges of his vision darkening. His hand fell back to the floor and Wash closed his eyes.

 

 _Heh, Kai's going to be furious,_ he thought as he fell into darkness. The sound of footsteps just barely reaching him as he did.

-End Of Reconstruction-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in case you were all wondering, Reconstruction was always going to end this way. Some of you probably expected the ending to be different from canon. I thought about it but then I realized that there were so many directions that I could go from here and really only one if I had changed it. So I went in this direction because I really liked one of the directions that it could go from here.
> 
> Next up is Recreation! I will warn you all though, there was not much to work with during that season so it's pretty much just an interlude before Revelation.


	15. Recreation: Get Out Of Jail Free Cards Are For People Who Didn't Actually Do Anything Wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I mentioned this last time, but in case anyone didn't read the end notes on the last chapter, Recreation is pretty much an interlude. There wasn't much to work with and this is where I really start to derail from canon. I still loosely followed the plot line but there will be a lot of changes from here on out.
> 
> Now that that's out of the way, I hope you all enjoy the chapter! Also, I'm sorry that it's kind of short.

He was pissed. He asked Kai to do one fucking thing for him and she hadn't done it. So now he was stuck wasting away in a maximum security prison. And even worse was that no matter how angry he was at her, he still wanted to be with her. She had betrayed him and he still fucking loved her. He knew that he did now, he had figured it out while he was still in the hospital.

 

It had taken a month for him to heal from his injury and then he had been put on trial. He had been convicted of three counts of dereliction of duty, eight counts of conspiracy to commit treason, and seven counts of destruction of protected, classified military property. He had let them take him after the trial and hadn't said anything about Epsilon because he still believed that Kai would come through for him.

 

And now it was another month later and he was still sitting here. She was never coming back for him. Just like everyone else. After everything that had done to help her get over her abandonment issues, she had gone and done it to him. This was the second worst thing that had ever happened to him. Epsilon still took first.

 

He had been passing the time since his trial by doing exercises in his cell. That could only keep him occupied for so long though before his thoughts drifted back to the last time he saw Kai. She had made him promise to come back. And now she was the reason why he couldn't. Maybe he was wrong when he had thought that she had had feelings for him.

 

Wash sat up and punched the steel wall. He was such a fucking fool for believing that he had any sort of chance to be happy. That he had any sort of chance to be loved by anyone. There must have been something wrong with him. The only people that he could remember ever loving him were his family. No one else ever had. Not in high school, not during his time in basic, not during his time on Kholo, and not during his time in the Project. So why would he even bother to entertain the thought that maybe she did?

 

He fell back onto the cot that was provided for him in his cell and tried to think of a way out of all of this. If he could just find the Blues, then he could set up a meeting with the person in charge and see if he could get them to release him in order to find the Blues and retrieve the Epsilon Unit from them. It was his only shot at this point. But he had no idea where they could have gone to.

 

At that moment, a guard walked up to Wash's cell. He put his helmet back on and turned to look at the guard. Apparently he had a call on his personal line and they were going to allow him to take it. The guard dropped the containment shield on his cell and then lead him over to the communication terminal that they had for the prisoners that actually _had_ loved ones and friends to talk to. Wash didn't have any of those so he never expected to get a call. The man told Wash that he had three minutes and then stood at the terminals entrance to wait for him.

 

Wash turned to the screen and pulled up the call. The last thing that he expected to see on the screen was Caboose. There was a Pink armored soldier standing behind him and he knew that that wasn't Kai. In fact, he didn't see her anywhere in the background. It was strange since she should be there with them. Maybe she just didn't want to see him? That made the most sense to him.

 

_"Agent Washington!"_

 

"Caboose? How did you even find me?"

 

_"You are on my computer screen! I just looked at it!"_

 

"No I mean... Never mind. What's going on? Are you okay? I haven't heard anything about you," no matter how angry he was at them, he still wanted them to be alright. Well, until he got a hold of them at least. Then he was going to either kill them or beat the shit out of them. He hadn't decided which one would make him feel better yet.

 

_"Oh yeah, I'm good. How about you?"_

 

"All things considered, guess I should just be glad to be alive," when had he gotten so good at lying? Maybe it was because Kai wasn't around at the moment to point it out. He was actually pissed that he had made it out alive because that had landed him here.

 

_"Yeah... did you get a big medal for beating Project Freelancer?"_

 

"Yeah Caboose. I have so much metal in my life that I have no idea what to do with it all," he answered sarcastically. Right now he was just wishing that some of that metal would corrode and collapse on him, putting him out of his misery, "How about you?"

 

_"They gave us shiny new bases! The Reds have their place, and I have my own place! It's kinda cool! I think I'm gonna get a drum set."_

 

"Yeah... Wait. Seriously? You have a new base?" That was bullshit. How was it that they got a new base but he had gotten stuck here? He was even more pissed at the news.

 

_"Well, it's not new new. They gave us the ones that were abandoned from Project Freelancer."_

 

"They gave you a base?"

 

_"What, you didn't get a new base too?"_

 

"No... No I didn't," all he had gotten was a jail cell.

 

_"Well, you can come here and share my base with me. Oh! We need your help! Can you come right away? Can you come help us?"_

 

"I don't think that's going to happen. And why would you even need my help? You have Kai after all and she's a good shot," something about this conversation had been bugging him. So far Caboose had made it seem like it was just him there until that last part...

 

_"Yeah... she's not here right now. She went to go help you and, uh, then she didn't come back."_

 

"What?"

 

"All right, Washington. Back in your cell," the guard told him and Wash disconnected the call.

 

Just as he was going to ask the guard to see the Commander and question him about Kai, a loud sound reached the terminal and both of them looked down the hall. The alarm started going off and the security system started warning them of a breach. The sound of gunfire starting reached them and Wash knew that someone had just broken out. And that should have been impossible.

 

He stared down the hall and waited to see what was going on. The guard that was with him rushed off to help the other guards. Seconds later, the man was sent flying back down the hall and the sound gunfire cut off before starting again as a new group of guards must have approached the escapee. Another moment passed and then Wash was met with the sight of the escaped prisoner.

 

Wash's eyes widened in horror as he watched the Meta walk down the hallway towards him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I stand by my belief that the Meta could punch his way through a steel wall. If Tex could do it in Revelation, then so could the Meta since they are both pretty evenly matched in terms of strength.


	16. Recreation: If Someone Won't Tell You What You Want To Know, The Next Logical Step Is To Stab Them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still kinda on the short side. Sadly, all of Recreation is. As always, enjoy the chapter!

This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. Instead of saving him, she had ended up in jail for helping him. And now she didn't even know what had happened to him. No one would tell her anything any time she asked. She swore that the next time someone didn't tell her what she wanted to know, that she was going to stab them. So here she was, doing the only thing that she could in this situation; she sat on her 'bed' glaring at the wall across from her cell.

 

She didn't even blame him for her ending up here because she knew for a while that he had gotten in trouble and that the UNSC had probably considered him a criminal by the time the E.M.P. went off. She knew that once the Meta had shown up on the UNSC's radar that they would start asking questions which would in turn lead to an investigation of Project Freelancer. That they would find the personnel files and arrest everyone that they thought knew about what Project Freelancer had done. And she knew that Wash would be on that list.

 

She probably could have escaped going to jail due to being a Simulation Trooper, but when Caboose had crashed the jeep into the rock, she had fallen out. Instead of getting back in, she had told them to go and to take Epsilon to the authorities. She was going back for him because he lied to her again when he promised to come back. It had taken her 20 minutes to find him and by that time the E.M.P. had already gone off. He was bleeding out on the floor next to the computer and she had tried her best to put pressure on the wound because she wasn't going to just let him die. She loved him and he wasn't allowed to leave her. A few minutes later the authorities had shown up and pulled her off of him. She had fought with them and screamed at them for taking her away from him until they sedated her.

 

She had been arrested after that and then put on trial. She tried to tell them about what had happened and about Epsilon but they had kept cutting her off. They didn't want to hear what she had to say, they just wanted someone to blame so that they could tell the public that they caught the people responsible for the whole mess. She ended up being charged with a few counts of conspiracy to commit treason, aiding and abetting a war criminal, and various counts of destruction of protected, classified military property.

 

And then they had locked her up and thrown away the key without even telling her if Wash was still alive. Even though she knew that they wouldn't tell her, Kai still asked the guards everyday about him. It had been two months now and she was worried and scared that he was gone and that she would never know if he was.

 

So far, Kai had been bored off her ass. She spent most of her time curled up in her bed thinking about Wash and the rest of it she spent in her Kevlar undersuit practicing her flexibility because she didn't want to lose that skill and it could come in handy if she ever got out of jail. Speaking of getting out of jail; why the fuck hadn't Caboose, Dex, and the rest of the Reds turned in Epsilon yet!? Seriously! That was her only way out of here and her only way to get answers about Wash!

 

The sound of footsteps down the hall signaled that it was time for the guards to patrol again. It was also time for her preform her daily routine; ask about Wash and get shot down because it was none of her business to know what happened to him. She waited until they got closer to her, usually they were talking about Grifball or something else that was equally as stupid in her eyes. Today was different though, and Kai just stood and walked over to the containment shield. She leaned against the wall on the right, putting her out of the guards' sight and listened.

 

"Man, I heard that the Chairman is pissed. They just got done cataloging all the stuff that was destroyed at that Freelancer base," one of the guards said as they started passed Kai's cell.

 

"Really? I'm guessing that some of it was missing if he's that pissed about it," the second guard. They were now passed her cell and Kai moved to the other side to keep listening.

 

"Apparently a couple of those AI things were missing," guard one.

 

"Which ones?" Guard two asked and it was getting harder for Kai to hear.

 

"They never found the Epsilon AI, the Alpha AI, or the Beta AI. And for some reason, he really wants them. I heard a rumor that he was thinking of sending out that one Freelancer to collect them. Something about clearing his record if he agrees to it," and then they were too far away for her to hear anymore.

 

So there was a possibility that Tex was still alive. That news made Kai happy, despite their rocky start, Kai had really liked Tex. But there was something that made her even more happy than the news that Tex might still be out there. Wash was _alive_. And he was _here_. Somewhere.

 

The only reason she knew that they were talking about him was because there was no way that they would trust the Meta to go out and collect the AI. It would never bring them back and it didn't care about getting a clean slate. Wash did though. And that might be just enough to get him to do what they wanted.

 

Kai sat back on her 'bed' just as a loud noise sounded from one of the cells just down from her own. The sound continued over and over until she heard a screeching and shrieking noise. The sound of metal being bent and twisted. It was like listening to a car accident without the impact from another car, shattering glass, and the tires screeching.

 

After a couple of minutes, the alarm started going off and Kai covered her ears. Whoever was making that noise had just broken out of their cell and things were about to get hectic. Kai decided that it would probably be in her best interest to put her armor back on.

 

45 minutes later, Kai was just putting her helmet on when a couple of guards appeared at her cell. One of them told her that someone wanted to see her and the other dropped the shield. They lead her through the halls and passed quite a few dead guards to a door that one of the guards had to enter a code into. Once it opened, Kai's eyes widened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you all tell me that the Meta got the Beta AI, that was actually never proven. They all just assumed that he did. We never see the Meta with more than seven AI. Not even at the end of Reconstruction when they all appear before the Alpha. I have my own theory in regards to what happened to the Beta AI and I never really go into full detail about it because it just didn't fit in. If you want to hear my theory, feel free to ask and I will be happy to tell it!


	17. Recreation: Making Deals Doesn't Always Go As Planned, But That's Okay As Long As You Get What You Want Most Out Of It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing to say this time. Enjoy the chapter!

He only watched the Meta for a moment before he spun around and ran back up the steps that lead to the terminal. As much as he wanted to use this opportunity to escape himself, he knew that he couldn't leave now. Caboose had practically just told him that Kai was more than likely here with him and he wasn't leaving without her. Especially with the Meta now free.

 

As much as was pissed at her, he had known that there was a chance of her not doing as he asked. He had had a feeling that if she had felt any sort of love for him that she would do anything to hold on to it. Apparently she must have if she went back for him like Caboose had told him.

 

His heart skipped a beat at the thought. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he could be happy. But first, he had to hide from the Meta and then get both Kai and himself out of here.

 

Wash ran back down the halls to the closest guard station. They were surprised to see him but quickly raised their guns and pointed them at him. He threw his arms up to show that he was unarmed and then glanced down the hallway. The Meta hadn't caught up yet but Wash knew that it would. He needed them to let him in there because there was no way that he could fight the Meta hand to hand with no other help.

 

"You need to either let me in there or help me," well, that probably wasn't the best way to say that.

 

"Why the fuck would we do that? There's an escaped prisoner on the loose and you're the only one we see," one of them said. Wash really didn't care which one because he didn't have time for that.

 

"Believe me, I know and it's not me that you should be worrying about," the sound of footsteps echoed through the steel halls and Wash whipped his head in the direction that they were coming from. He couldn't see it yet but he knew that the Meta was going to be the one that walked around the corner, "Shit."

 

By some miracle, the guards opened the door just as Wash had turned to face the corridor that the Meta would come from. He quickly ducked into the room and shut the door. He looked around frantically and noticed that there were only two places to hide; the desk and under the plexiglass window.

 

"Hide now and stay quiet or we are all going to die," he told them and surprisingly, they actually listened.

 

One of them hid behind the desk and the other ducked under the window with Wash. They stayed silent and listened to the heavy footsteps as they came down the hall and passed by the window. They heard the Meta let out a snarl as it continued down the hall. They stayed where they were until they couldn't hear the footsteps anymore.

 

Wash silently peeked out the window and looked both directions. He couldn't see the whole hall but what he could see was clear. He crept over to the door and opened it, he looked through the crack in the door and down the side of the hall that the Meta had gone down before he stuck his head out and checked in the direction that the Meta had come from just to be on the safe side. The Meta was gone for now. He straightened and turned to the guards.

 

"It's gone. We should be alright for now. I think it's trying to find a way out and now that it's free, nothing is going to stop it from leaving," he told them as he leaned against the wall.

 

"That's that other Freelancer isn't it? Shouldn't you be able to take him on or something?" The guard behind the desk asked and Wash couldn't hold back the cold laugh that bubbled up.

 

"Without a weapon or any sort of backup, no. I can't. You don't just take on the thing that beat it's way out of a steel cell," and it had. Wash knew now what that sound was before the alarm started. He also knew that something had to spur it into escaping in the first place since the Meta hadn't tried to escape until now.

 

"Jesus. If it was strong enough to escape this whole time then why did it wait until now?" The second guard asked.

 

"My guess is that it learned something it either didn't like or that it found out somehow that there are still at least two AI out there. It wants them and it won't stop until it gets them," he said and the guards looked at each other before turning back to him.

 

"How did you know that there are still AI out there?" The first asked.

 

"Because I just got a phone call. That's why I wasn't in my cell," he paused, "I want a meeting with the Commander so I can hunt down the Meta."

 

The guards looked at him and then at each other. After a moment passed, the guard by the desk reached over and pressed the button on the intercom that was on the wall next to him. He told the person on the other end about what had happened and that Wash wanted a meeting with them. He was given the all clear to bring Wash to the office and then they both lead him to the person in charge. Once the door was open, Wash was met with the sight of an older looking bald man.

 

"My dear Agent Washington. I'm so pleased to make your acquaintance. Do come in. I feel that we have much to discuss," the man said and suddenly Wash felt wary of him. He could feel that there was something off about this man. He just didn't know what it was yet.

 

"I'm sorry, do we know each other?" He asked cautiously as he walked into the room.

 

"You are Special Agent Washington, former member of Project Freelancer. Also known by the designation Recovery One," at this point he wasn't even sure if he wanted to be known by any of those names. All those names had gotten him was a one way ticket straight to jail. Do not pass GO and do not collect $200.

 

"Recently I'm more commonly known as prisoner 619-B. And we both know exactly why," he couldn't help but snark at the man. He didn't come here to discuss his past or what got him put in here, "Just who exactly are you?"

 

"I am someone that is extremely disappointed by the destruction of any military property that was destroyed by the E.M.P. blast that _you_ set off, Agent Washington. That is all you need to know," there was more to it. He was hiding something and Wash knew that it had to do with the AI. The man wanted them for something.

 

"I want to make a deal. I have information that you want and I'm more capable than anyone else here or hireable, to take down the Meta once and for all," well, him and Kai were anyway.

 

"While I do not doubt your ability to handle Agent Maine, all of the information that I want was lost in the destruction of Project Freelancer. You will not get anything from me if all you have to offer is your ability to hunt down Agent Maine," the man said and Wash was getting irritated. If he would just let Wash finish, then they could get on with it already.

 

"Not all of it and I'm sure that you know that as well. You're still missing the Epsilon Unit and I recently happened to find out just where it is. I know that you must have searched _everyone_ associated with the Project. Even the Red Team troopers that you must have come across, and I know that you came across them if you gave them a new base," he began and the man cut him off.

 

"Yes, the ones that were found bickering around the stalled jeep," oh yeah. That definitely sounded like the Reds.

 

"There's another group of soldiers. A Blue squad. They escaped with Epsilon."

 

"I show no records of these soldiers," the man said, sounding doubtful.

 

"And you won't. But I know where to find them," he kept his words as vague as possible so that the man wouldn't learn everything that Wash knew. If he told him too much then the man would demand more of him and would hold Kai over him instead of getting her out of here with him, "So here's the deal: my partner and I take out the Meta and get you that missing module, you clear our names and get us out of here. And after, we can forget that we ever met."

 

"That sounds fair. And just who is this partner of yours, Agent Washington?"

 

"Kaikaina Grif. I know that she's here too. Also, I'm going to need some equipment. Invisibility, overshields... anything that was left over from Project Freelancer."

 

"I think we can point you in the right direction for that," the man said as he pressed the button on the intercom and called for someone to bring him prisoner 517-A, "Once your partner has arrived, I'll have the guards take you both to where you need to go."

 

Finally, he was going to see her again and Wash felt his heart pounding. They were both going to get out of here. He wasn't all that happy about having to turn in Epsilon, but it was the only way that the man was going to agree to let them out and clear their names.

 

After what felt like forever but was really only about five minutes, the door opened behind him and Wash turned. He was met with the sight of bright Yellow armor. She was here and she was okay and Wash threw his arms around her when she leapt at him. He'd yell at her later for not doing what he told her. Right now though, he was just happy to see her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.


	18. Recreation: Arguing Can Lead To Revelations, Sometimes They're Bad And Sometimes They're Not

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays to those of you out there that celebrate them! If you don't then I hope you have a good Monday at least. In the spirit of the Holidays, I've decided that I'm going to be posting today as well as tomorrow. It's my gift to all of you that enjoy this story. So, without further ado, on with the story!

The sound of a throat clearing broke the moment and Wash reluctantly pulled away from Kai. Kai on the other hand refused to let go of him. She turned in the direction of the man that Wash had made a deal with and he could just tell that she was glaring at him.

 

"I really don't care who you are. I've spent the last two months trying to find out if he was alive. And now that I know, I'm feeling a little emotional. So you'll excuse me if right now, all I want to do is cling to him," she hissed.

 

They hadn't told her. Here he had spent the last two months being angry at her but at least he knew that she was alive. She had spent the last two months locked up and not knowing if he had survived or not. He felt his chest tighten at the thought of her suffering because no one told her anything.

 

"I'm sure you both have a lot of catching up to do. Right now is not the time, you both have work to do if you expect to be free from this settlement. The guards will show you to the Property Room where you can collect your belongings. I'm sure that Agent Washington will tell you exactly what you two will be doing, Miss Grif," the man said and the guards escorted them out of the room.

 

Kai finally released her hold on his waist, moving one of her hands to grip one of his instead. Wash was never the most affectionate person, but that might have had something to do with never being given the chance to find out if he could be. After spending two months thinking that he was dead, Wash decided that he would allow Kai to cling to him for now. He knew that it was her way of being reassured that he was really here. That he was really alive.

 

The Property Room was only two hallways away from that man's office. It was also located close to the exit as far as he could tell, which was convenient. In fact, he was willing to bet that the room where they store the confiscated items was also close by as well.

 

Wash and Kai stopped short when they saw the damage that had been done to the area. The door to the Property Room was bent in and twisted. The same could be said for the other room that they needed. A trail of bodies littered the floor as well. Over all, it looked like a scene from a slasher movie.

 

"What the fuck happened?" Kai asked, her grip on his hand tightening.

 

"I'll give you two guesses, and the first one doesn't count," he answered. He squeezed her hand a little and then released his grip, signaling to her that she should do the same. She did and Wash walked over to the first room.

 

"It was the Meta wasn't it? The Meta was the one that lost it after the guards walked passed my cell talking about some guy called the Chairman being upset because Epsilon, Alpha, and Beta were missing," so Beta had never been found. He was actually kind of happy to hear that because that meant that she was still out there and that Church might be able to find her if he hadn't already.

 

"We'll discuss this further in a little while. Right now I'm going to collect what we need and then we're leaving. Alright?" Kai nodded her head and Wash crawled through the wreckage and over to the locker that had his name on it. He pulled it open and collected his assault rifle, pistol, and combat knife. He placed the knife in it's sheath and then put his guns on the proper mag strips before he moved on to the locker with Kai's name on it, collecting her shotgun and pistol.

 

He moved carefully back to the door and handed Kai her weapons before climbing back out. He then proceeded on to the next room and made his way through what was left of the door. The room was even more of a disaster than the Property Room was. He could already tell that his search for anything left over from Freelancer was going to be in vain. Chances were that the Meta had already taken everything.

 

He spent close to 15 minutes going through everything and didn't find a damn thing. This was going to make things very hard since neither him or Kai would have an overshield. Wash let out a frustrated sigh and then made his way back out of the room. Once he was out, he saw Kai tilt her head in question about if he had found anything and Wash just shook his head.

 

"We're ready," he told the guard and the guard just nodded and brought them down the next hallway to the exit.

 

"I'd open the door for you but..." the man trailed off and Wash didn't need him to continue. He understood what the guard was getting at when he looked at the door. It was just as wrecked as the other two were, "Vehicle bay is the next building over. I'll give them a call to let them know that you're coming."

 

Wash nodded and then climbed through the wrecked door, helping Kai through it once he was on the other side. They walked in silence to motor pool, but he knew that it wouldn't be that way for long. Once they were on the road, he was going to let Kai know just how pissed he was at her. The only reason he was holding back now was because this was something that was between the two of them. He'd rather that no one else hear them.

 

By this point, he wasn't really surprised to see that the door to the vehicle bay was trashed. This just meant that the Meta wasn't on foot and that it wanted to get where it was going fast. And depending on what it had stolen from the Confiscation Room, it would be able to track the Reds and Caboose, easily.

 

The hanger door was wide open and Wash and Kai walked in. Only a few of the guards were still alive and Wash walked up to one of them to retrieve a set of keys for a jeep. After he got them, Wash walked back over to where Kai was waiting for him and then lead her to the jeep that he had been directed to. They got in and Wash started it, he pressed his foot down on the gas pedal and drove out of the hanger door.

 

Once they were cleared of the gate that lead into the prison, he drove a couple of miles out and then pulled over on the side of the road. He turned his attention to Kai and noticed that she was staring at him as well.

 

"I asked you to do one thing Kai, and you didn't do it. We wouldn't even be in this mess if you had just done as I asked! Why the fuck did you even come after me!?" He was pissed and he was damn well going to let her know it.

 

"Really? You wanna go there? Did you really expect me to just leave you after you fucking _lied_ to me!? You were never planning on coming back! Did it never occur to you that maybe I didn't want you to die!? I've spent the past two months wondering if you fucking died anyway because the last time I saw you, you were bleeding out on the floor and I couldn't do _anything_! You really wanna know why I didn't listen you!? It's because I fucking love you!" She screamed at him and his heart stopped because someone actually loved _him_.

 

"Kai... I'm sorry for yelling at you. I spent the last two months thinking that you wanted nothing to do with me. That that was why you hadn't bothered to turn in Epsilon. I wouldn't have even blamed you for it either, no one has ever loved me outside of my family, Kai. I've spent the last 10 or so years thinking that there was something wrong with me," he clenched his hands harder around the steering wheel and stared out the windshield at the rocky, desolate area in front of them.

 

"Che! It's more like the other way around. There must be something wrong with everyone else if they didn't love you. You didn't exactly make it easy, and sometimes, like now, you still do. But, after everything that you've done for me, how could I not have fallen in love with you?" She asked like it was the simplest and most logical conclusion to come to. And maybe for her it was, "I know that you feel something for me, no matter how hard you try to hide it. You don't have to tell me how you feel now, but I am going to want to hear it eventually."

 

If he didn't already love her, he would have fallen in love with her right then, "Kai... I... Alright. One day, I promise."

 

"You better not break this one, because a broken promise is still just a lie. And you're really bad at lying," Wash just smiled at her, even if she couldn't see it, he could still tell that she knew that he was, "So what do we have to do in order to stay out of jail?"

 

"Two things, and I'm sure you know one of them," Wash pulled away from the side of the road and started driving in the direction of Valhalla, "The first is that we take out the Meta. Without our overshields, we'll have to be very careful. It'll have some of the equipment that it had before, plus it's overshield. As for the second task... We have to turn over Epsilon. The 'Chairman', I believe you called him, wouldn't let us out just for the Meta alone. He wants the AI for some reason and I don't like the idea of him having them. I have the feeling that he's not just going to use them as 'evidence' either."

 

"He was pretty creepy. I got the vibe that I should never be alone with that man. I don't like this, Wash. I don't think that he's planning on letting us go even if we do manage to bring in Epsilon," Kai said and he agreed with her. She was usually right about these things.

 

"We'll stick to it as far as taking out the Meta. That will give us time to figure out how to escape the rest of the deal and take Epsilon with us," he told her, "But first, we have to get to Valhalla. That's where they sent the Reds and Caboose. That's where the Meta will be heading because it probably knows by now that they must have Epsilon."

 

He just hoped that they would make it in time to keep those idiots from getting killed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: The line "a broken promise is still just a lie", comes from the song _Path Less Taken_ by the band Taproot.
> 
> As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask!


	19. Recreation: It's Entirely Possible To Hate Something Even More Than You Hated It Before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to those of you that are celebrating today! If you don't then I hope that you have a good day!
> 
> Usually I post earlier in the day but I was kind of busy and this is the first chance I've had. I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

It had taken them almost three hours to reach Valhalla from the prison. Wash had pulled the jeep up next to Red Base and parked it. He pulled out the keys and then activated the jeeps camouflage function. At the moment, everything was quiet so they decided to search the bases. Kai took Red Base and Wash headed for Blue Base. That was when he spotted some of the Reds.

 

He only knew two of them and the other was the one that he had seen during the call with Caboose. They were standing next to a Warthog with the Meta approaching them. Wash quickly moved around the side of a large boulder to try and take the Meta by surprise. Just before he rounded the corner, he called Kai to let her know that everyone was over by the concrete wall on the right side of the canyon.

 

He took a deep breath and then walked out into the open. He just hoped that they didn't blow his cover. They did. Because of fucking course they did. That was his luck after all.

 

"Agent Washington! It's Agent Washington!" Simmons said.

 

"Stop right there!" He called at the Meta.

 

"Yes! We're saved!" Apparently Simmons was really glad to see him. He probably wouldn't be in a few moments though, because Wash still had to make it look like he was doing his job. Who knew if the Chairman was watching them or not.

 

Wash carefully walked closer to the Meta, his rifle pointed at it. The Meta only stood still for a moment before it whipped around and fired a grenade at him. He rolled to the right and fired back as soon as he was on his feet. A couple of the shots hit the overshield and one of the shots blew out the tire on the Warthog, barely missing the Pink soldier. The Meta snarled at him and launched two grenades consecutively at him. Wash dodged back to avoid the first and then to the right to avoid the second.

 

The Meta gave up firing grenades and ran straight at him. Wash barely had time to switch out his rifle for his combat knife in order to block the blade of the Brute Shot. After Wash blocked the first blow, the Meta swung again and Wash ducked below the swing. He swiped his own blade at the Meta's midsection and managed to give it a small gash. It hissed and then jumped back out of Wash's reach.

 

Wash would have preferred to keep using the knife since the overshield was designed to block gunfire and grenades, they didn't really think about blades because not many people use them as a main weapon. With the distance between them now, he had no choice but to switch back to his rifle. The Meta fired a grenade at him and Wash rolled to the right, firing shots back. At that moment, a couple of shots from a shotgun rang out and hit the Meta's overshield. Kai had finally joined the fight.

 

"Protect the Reds and question them! I'll deal with the Meta!" He called to her. As much as he would have loved to have her help him, he knew that he was better off than she was. Plus she didn't have an overshield and that meant that she could get hurt. And Wash would never allow that to happen.

 

Wash circled around the Meta so that he was standing between it and Kai. He could hear Kai trying to usher the Reds to move into Blue Base. He took out his combat knife again and ran at the Meta. He stopped just short of the Brute Shot's blade as the Meta swung it at him. While it was overbalanced from the swing, Wash shoved his knife into the Meta's shoulder. He placed his foot on the Meta's chest and pushed off of it, back flipping a few feet away from it. The Meta let out a fearsome snarl at the injury. And Wash was more than happy to hear that it was angry about being hurt.

 

Once he landed Wash pulled out his pistol and aimed it at the Meta, firing a couple of rounds at it as the Meta pulled the knife out of it's shoulder. It threw the blade on the ground and then pulled out it's own pistol. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the Reds running in the direction of Blue Base. Kai just behind the Pink one.

 

He fired another two shots at the Meta as it took aim at him. At the last moment, the Meta changed the pistol's direction and fired. He heard a gasp and he whipped his head in the direction of the others. Kai was standing still and her helmet was tilted towards him.

 

"Wash... I...," she started before she collapsed forward.

 

"No! Kai!" He screamed as he ran towards her, catching her just before she hit the ground.

 

The Meta disappeared as the Reds ran back to them. Wash quickly searched for the wound and found that the bullet had pierced her left side. The Meta had just missed her heart.

 

Wash gently lied her down on the ground and removed her helmet so that she could breath easier. He quickly tore off his own helmet so that she could see him and not his visor. He put pressure on the wound to try and slow the bleeding as tears formed in his eyes.

 

The Reds were panicking behind him and trying to figure out what to do. They really didn't matter to him though. Kai was all that mattered and in that moment, Wash could almost understand why the Director could never let go of Allison. Because Wash wouldn't be able to let Kai go. He needed her and she couldn't die on him. Not now and not ever.

 

"Call a medic," he said as he kept his eyes locked with Kai's emerald. They were wide and he could tell that she was in shock. The Reds must not have heard him because he didn't hear any of them calling out for a medic, "Call a fucking medic now!"

 

He distantly heard one of them making the call and then a different one saying that he remembered something before whoever it was took off running. Wash watched as Kai took a ragged breath and then coughed. Blood spilling out of the corners of her mouth. His vision was blurry and he felt tears running down his face. He never once took his eyes off of hers though.

 

He saw her eyes starting close and he panicked even more. He felt his heart stop because she was dying and nononono! She couldn't leave him! Not after the fuss that she put up about him almost doing the same thing.

 

"Kai! No, no! Stay with me! You can't do this to me! Don't you dare fucking die on me after making me fall in love with you!" He cried as her eyes drifted shut and a small smile appeared on her lips.

 

Wash faintly heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching them but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that Kai didn't open her eyes again. And right then, Wash was sure of one thing; he was going to destroy the Meta.

-End Of Recreation-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I have no idea about the actual mechanics of the overshield. I just happened to notice that it seems like blades usually manage to work when bullets don't. So I made that part up.
> 
> Next up is the start of Revelation. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask.


	20. Revelation: This Is Not A Stephen King Novel, No Matter How Similar The Chain Of Events Are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the beginning of the end! I hope you all enjoy the first chapter of Revelation! If you have any question about the chapter, feel free to ask!

"Well, I see that things have gone to shit since the last time I saw you."

 

Wash didn't bother to take his eyes off of Kai. He supposed that he owed Church his thanks for showing up at the perfect moment though. He had taken the Healing Unit with him while Wash had been in shock at the power plant and he had forgotten to give it back. So it had managed to escape the E.M.P. blast.

 

Apparently, Church had come back here to try and find some more clues about Texas and upon seeing Kai's injury, he remembered that he had the Healing Unit and gave it back to Wash. Kai's wound was healing now because of it but she was still unconscious. It made him nervous and he was still terrified that she wouldn't wake up, or that she could still die from blood loss and leave him.

 

When she had healed enough, Wash had picked her up and carried her to one of the rooms in the Blue Base. Simmons had walked next to him, holding the Healing Unit so that Kai didn't lose contact with it. The man had run off to Red Base after Kai got shot because he remembered that Red Base had a medical kit. By the time Simmons got back, Church was already there with the Healing Unit.

 

"That's an understatement, Church. But I owe you for this. Thanks," Wash glanced at Church and then back at Kai.

 

"How the fuck did this even happen anyway?" Church asked and Wash really didn't want to talk about what had happened. But he owed Church for showing up just in time and saving Kai's life.

 

"That... That is a very long story," he sighed before squeezing Kai's hand a little tighter, "After you left, we headed for Freelancer Command to save Epsilon. We managed to get in and to the main computer terminal. The Reds and Caboose stayed there and I took Kai with me as a 'prisoner' so that we could get as close the storage facility as possible. After we got there, we took Epsilon and went back to where we had left the others.

 

"Turns out that they were busy while we were gone. Instead of finding the proof that Sarge wanted, they found the personnel files and deleted any mention of Blue Team. The Meta showed up after that, just like I planned for it to because it wouldn't be able to resist any AI that were stored there. I sent Kai and Caboose off with Epsilon and told the Reds to protect their jeep.

 

"After that, I went down to the Director's lab to set off the E.M.P. that would destroy everything, including the Meta's AIs. Turns out that the Director and Counselor always knew that I was going to turn, even before South called them. The Meta followed me and I set up the E.M.P. That's where everything went wrong. The Director told the Meta to kill me in order to stop me from setting off the E.M.P. and then dropped the containment shield that I set up to keep the Meta out.

 

"It shot me through the lung and then got into an argument with the Director and Counselor about the Alpha and I used that chance to finish entering the codes and activated the E.M.P. I woke up in the hospital after that and then I was put on trial and then sent to jail."

 

"Whoa whoa! Hold on. How did you end up in jail if you sent Epsilon off with Kai? There's no way that she would have let that happen," Church asked him and Wash could tell that he was trying to figure out how it turned out like this.

 

"Epsilon was never turned in like I asked because Kai came back for me. She can always tell when I'm lying, and when I promised her that I would come back, I was lying and she knew it. I never expected to get out this alive. If the Meta didn't kill me then the guards would have after I set off the E.M.P. because that's how the Project deals with traitors.

 

"Kai went to jail for aiding me in destroying military property and I didn't even know that she came back for me until today. Hell, she didn't even know if I was alive until today because they never told her. With Kai in jail, guess who that left to turn in Epsilon... Caboose and the Reds.

 

"The Reds were hit by the blast but Caboose made it and the authorities never found him because he was no longer on record. After Caboose called me, I figured out where he was and what happened. I had just finished the call when the Meta broke out. Kai told me that a couple of the guards were talking about the missing AIs and that the Meta overheard them and lost it after that. I got some of the guards to bring me to the guy in charge and made a deal with him; Kai and I take out the Meta and bring in the Epsilon Unit and in return, we get a clear slate. He agreed and here we are."

 

"I'm pretty sure that God hates you," Wash let out a cold laugh at that.

 

"It gets worse. There's something off about the guy I made a deal with. Kai and I know that he isn't just going to let us go even if we bring him the Epsilon Unit. And we have no idea how to get out of this. On top of that, Caboose has Epsilon and he's not here," Wash paused and debated with himself on whether or not to warn Church, "I can't believe that I'm going to tell you this. I promised myself that I would never do anything that the Director would have done, but I have no choice now because you deserve to know. You have to be careful Church. The Meta isn't just hunting Epsilon. It's hunting the Alpha and Beta AIs as well. It doesn't know who the Alpha is, but it knows who Beta is."

 

"How is that even a warning for me? I have no idea who the Alpha and Beta AIs are," Church snorted and Wash just took a deep breath.

 

"You are the Alpha AI, Church. And Texas is the Beta AI. She knew all along that you both were, but for some reason, she didn't tell you and I figured that she had reason not to, so I didn't tell you either. But with the Meta hunting you both, I figured that you needed to know just what kind of danger you are in," he told him and Church just started laughing in disbelief.

 

"I can't be a fucking AI, Wash. I have memories from when I was a kid. And I told you before, but you must not have been listening then, I am a mother fucking ghost!" Holy shit. Kai wasn't kidding when she told him that Church thought that he was a ghost.

 

"Seriously? Just because you have the same name as the cat that gets killed and brought back in _Pet Sematary_ does not make you like him. But now that I really think about it, you both were the first ones to die and come back. Only difference is that the cat wasn't mean before it died in the movie and it didn't get mean until the end of the book. You always were... And now I'm off track. The point is, no one else that's died has come back like you have and I know for a fact that they didn't bury you in an Indian Burial Ground with rotten soil. And before you tell me that Texas did, I already told you that she's an AI also. Epsilon was _your_ memories and that's how I know what you and Texas are."

 

"You tell him, Agent Hottie," he heard Kai whisper and he whipped his head back in her direction, "Also, you need a haircut."

 

Wash let out a weak laugh at her comment. Church was silent for a moment before he walked out of the room. Wash figured that he was either mulling over what he had been told or giving them some privacy. Or both.

 

Wash ran his fingers through her bangs; they had grown out a little like his had and now reached just below her chin instead of ending at the corners of her lips like they had two months ago. He took a deep breath to steady himself before he leaned over and kissed her forehead. She was alive and she was awake and finally he could breath again.

 

"Don't you _ever_ do that to me again," he commanded, "If I'm not allowed to die, then neither are you."

 

"Didn't mean to," she spoke, her words a little slurred and groggy yet, "...I ever tell you that your commanding voice is hot?"

 

He chuckled quietly and rested his forehead against hers, "You might have mentioned that once... And I know that you didn't. It still scared the hell out of me, Kai. I love you too much to lose you."

 

"Love ya too," she answered and Wash just kissed her forehead once more before he pulled away.

 

"Get some rest, Kai. I can tell you still need it," he told her and she just nodded, her eyes already closed. Within minutes she was out again.

 

Wash was debating with himself on whether or not he should go interrogate the Reds or if he should stay with Kai when there was a knock on the door. He turned to it and watched as it opened a bit and a Purple helmet poked through the opening. Wash was wary of the newcomer. For all he knew, this person had been sent by the Chairman.

 

"Sorry to bother you, but Donut called for a medic and they sent me. I'm Medical Officer Frank Dufresne. I'm here to check on the patie- Is that Sister?" Apparently the Reds and Blues had run into this guy before.

 

"Her _name_ is Kaikaina," Wash glared and the man got a little fidgety when he saw the look that Wash was giving him. He had always loved when he got that reaction from people. Apparently, as he had been told a few times before, his eyes looked unnatural when he glared because of their icy coloring, "You have five minutes and then I'll be back. If you try something, I will know. It would be in your best interest not to."

 

"Ri-right," the medic stuttered at his cold voice.

 

He stood from the chair that he had been sitting on and released Kai's hand before walking out of the room. He walked down the halls until he came to the flag room and found the others there talking. Everyone turned to look at him when he entered and as much as he didn't want to do this, he knew it had to be done. He needed to question the Reds about Caboose and Epsilon.

 

"I may have saved your asses from the Meta, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to beat you within an inch of your lives if you don't tell me where the fuck Caboose is. Epsilon never got turned in and Kai and I went to jail because of it. And as much as I don't trust the man in charge, I need to make it seem like we are still doing what we were told until we can figure a way out of this. And that means finding Epsilon. Now, where did they go?"

 

"Well now, that's no way to ask a man to give it to you," the Pink one -Donut he assumed, because he knew everyone else- said.

Wash narrowed his eyes into another icy glare and everyone shuddered at the look, "Let me put it to you this way; The Meta is hunting Epsilon and by extention, Caboose because he has Epsilon with him. The Meta will kill anyone that gets in it's way. So you can either tell me where they went so I can retrieve Epsilon and possibly save your friends, or I can just fucking shoot you all because I am that pissed off right now and it might make me feel a little better."

 

"Well... when you put it that way...," Simmons started, "They went to the desert to help Tucker because he sent a distress call back when we were at Command. We ignored it until Donut showed up and told Caboose that he needed help. So Sarge and Grif went with him. Pleasedontkillus!"

 

"Hm... Good. Now I know where the Meta is heading. And I have a little... _score_ to settle with it," he said with a cold smile as he turned and walked back to the room that Kai was in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So funny story. Around Halloween, I like to read and watch Stephen King books and movies. This year I chose to read _Pet Sematary_. I got about half way through the book before it finally hit me that the cat and Church were actually very similar. For those of you that have never read or seen the movie, the cat's name is Winston Churchill but they call the cat Church. Church the cat gets hit by a truck and is the first character to die in the book. Long story short, they take the cat up to the Micmac Indian Burial Grounds where the soil has gone rotten and anything that gets buried there comes back but it doesn't come back exactly the same. So Church the cat is the first character to come back to life after being killed.
> 
> It made me wonder if the creators of RVB had either read or watched _Pet Sematary_ when they created Church's character because much like the cat in the book, they are both mainly referred to by the name Church. Church is the first to die in the series and the first to come back as well just like the cat.
> 
> The second it hit me, I paused in reading and literally said 'Holy. Shit.' And then I started to wonder. I decided to add it to this story because it kind of blew my mind and I wanted to share my little revelation and I haven't read any story that mentioned that before. If anyone has read a story that mentions it, let me know please! I would love to check it out!


	21. Revelation: Things Don't Always Turn Out The Way You Expected, Sometimes It Goes Better Than You Thought It Would

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so excited about my new duvet cover and pillow cases arriving today that I almost forgot that it was update day. In my defense, they are Pink Floyd and I have an undying love for Pink Floyd. And Fear Factory.
> 
> But enough of that. Enjoy the chapter!

When he had returned to Kai's room, the medic was just finishing his check on her. Kai was still sleeping and Wash returned to his chair next to her bed. He pulled her hand back into his and then turned to the medic.

 

"How is she?" he asked and the medic jumped a little. Wash figured it was because the man hadn't expected him to be the first to speak.

 

"Well... physically she'll be fine once the wound finishes healing. She lost a lot of blood though. I'd recommend that she doesn't do anything really active for a couple of days," the medic answered and Wash just nodded and told him to leave.

 

Once he was alone with her again, Wash sighed and brought Kai's hand up to his face, he placed a light kiss on the back of it before placing it down next to her on the bed. He knew what needed to be done. And this time, she wasn't coming with him.

 

He stood up and walked over to his armor. Methodically, he placed all of the parts back where they belonged except for his helmet. He picked it up and walked back over to Kai, Wash bent over her and placed one last kiss on her forehead.

 

"Sorry Kai, but this time you're staying here. I'm not letting you get hurt again," he whispered and then walked around her bed and out of the room.

 

As he walked down the halls, he could hear the sound of an argument of some kind coming from outside. He followed it to the exit corridor of the base. Once he arrived, he stuck to the shadows and then leaned against the wall by the exit to listen.

 

"Hold on, is that even a good idea?" He heard Church ask whoever was out there.

 

"You know how he is Church! He never listens to anything I tell him! Unless it's me agreeing with him about something, he'll do what he wants!" Simmons.

 

"Fuck! You know what's going to happen now right? Why didn't you mention this before!?" Church.

 

"Because I didn't know until three minutes ago and I also don't want to be the one that makes the fucking scary, angry Freelancer any angrier!" And that was his cue.

 

"Jesus Christ!" Church screamed as he melted out of the shadows. Simmons just whimpered and hid behind Church, "You know, for a guy with mostly bleached blonde hair and pale ass skin, you're really fucking good at that."

 

"I try," he deadpanned, "And stop trying to change the subject. What the hell is going on?"

 

"Well... I just got a call from Sarge. Him and Grif are coming back here," Simmons said and Wash raised an eyebrow at him. He failed to see how that would make him any angrier than he already was, "Turns out that when they couldn't reach me the first time they called, they started heading back here until they were in range. Tucker and Caboose followed them."

 

"And?" Church goaded. And Wash just knew that what Simmons said next was probably going to make him want to kill them all.

 

"Well... Sarge told me that Caboose managed to somehow... transfer Epsilon and now it's... active and it's looking for something."

 

Wash's eyes widened slightly and his heart froze. Epsilon was no longer dormant. He was aware and now Wash really didn't want to bring him to the Chairman. After his unraveling, he wouldn't even remember most of what they needed while he was aware. While he was dormant was another story. They would have been able to find what they needed easily since Epsilon would have been storing that information away before locking it up. And the only way for Epsilon to lock all the memories away was to wake up. At this point, the only way to get anything out of Epsilon was to hurt him, and Wash wasn't going to allow that.

 

"Damn it! You four need to take Kai and get out of here. I'll deal with the Meta and Epsilon when they get here-" he was cut off by a loud explosion coming from the left side of the canyon, "Or it's already too late and they're here."

 

He quickly put his helmet on and ran through the river, Church and Simmons right behind him. When he was far enough passed the massive boulder, he was met with the sight of two Warthogs driving erratically away from the hole in the wall and the Meta walking through the breach firing grenades at the vehicles. He couldn't see Epsilon, but he knew that he must have been with the Blues somewhere.

 

The only thing that mattered to him at the moment though, was that it was time to pay the Meta back for hurting Kai. He could feel his adrenaline spiking and his anger taking control. By now, he really should have learned to not let it do that. Especially after what happened with South.

 

"Alpha, take Kai to the jeep that we came here in. We camouflaged it and parked it at Red Base. I'll take care of the Meta," that was when Wash realized his mistake. He had been so angry that instead of calling him Church, he called him Alpha. And from the way that the Meta was looking at them, it had heard him, "Oh no... You need to hurry! Get everyone out of here and make sure that you take Epsilon with you."

 

He tossed the keys at Church and then turned back to the Meta. Wash heard Church take off behind him and watched as Simmons ran to the nearest Warthog -which happened to be Caboose's- and took the gunner position. Simmons began firing at the Meta while the Blue that was driving, drove off in the direction of Red Base. The Reds followed them and that was as far Wash paid attention to them.

 

He ran at the Meta and fired rounds from his rifle. He needed to slow it down so that they could escape. The Meta fired at him with the rifle end of the Brute Shot and Wash dove out of the way. He pulled the pin out of a grenade and threw it at the Meta in order to buy himself time to get upright again. It missed and landed just behind the Meta, as Wash got to his feet.

 

He back flipped out the blast radius and landed near the path that lead to where Texas' ship had crashed. The Meta was thrown off balance and it fell forward. Wash took that chance to fire more shots at it, it's shield gave a small spark and suddenly he felt a little bit of hope rising in him. He might be able to do this.

 

The Meta got back to it's feet and Wash could see three vehicles driving out of the hole in the wall. Good. That means that they were going to get away. He saw the Meta turn towards the wall and then it started chasing the others. Wash ran after it and threw another grenade to cut it off. It stopped short of the blast radius and snarled. It turned back to him and raised the blade of the Brute Shot.

 

Wash dodged the first swipe but the second cut into his right side and he gasped in pain. The Meta paused for a second and looked at something behind him. Wash could hear the sound of something charging and he glanced back to see a Moniter with a red glass 'eye' and decided that it would be in his best interest to move. He dove to the side just in time and the red beam hit the Meta in it's right shoulder. The same one that Wash had managed to stab with his combat knife.

 

It crashed the overshield and pierced a hole through the Meta. The damage wasn't nearly as bad as Wash knew that it would have been without the shield. Overall, the hole in it's shoulder was about the size of an old American Silver Dollar. The Meta roared in pain and then activated the Cloaking Unit.

 

Wash watched his motion trackers until he was sure that it was out of the area. Slowly he got to his feet and pressed his hand against the gash that he had recieved. He turned his head and looked at the Moniter, it's light had gone back to blue and Wash walked closer to it.

 

"Epsilon, I know that's you," he sighed.

 

_"I know you. You're the person I was looking for,"_ Epsilon said, just before the blue light flickered off and the Moniter fell.

 

Wash caught it with his free hand and then sighed again. He made his way slowly over to Red Base. From everything that he had heard so far, he knew that Sarge was likely to have some sort of vehicle hidden away somewhere. He would need it if he was going to catch up to the others.

 

Upon entering the base, he leaned against the wall and took a few deep breaths. He could tell that he was losing quite a bit of blood. Wash pushed off the wall and started down the halls. He made it all the way to the flag room, which the Reds had converted into a sort of living room, and found the Purple armored medic sitting on one of the couches. The man was muttering to himself about being left behind.

 

"Well... I guess I might not bleed out after all," he said as he set Epsilon down on one of the chairs before he collapsed to the floor.

 

"Geez! You look terrible! Here let me take a look at you," the medic said as he rushed over to him. He pulled Wash's hand away from the wound and began to mutter to himself about what needed to be done.

 

Wash could see the darkness edging into his vision and he pulled his helmet off. The fresh air should keep him from passing out too soon. The medic paused when he saw just _who_ was under the helmet. The man must not have remembered what Wash's voice sounded like without the cold edge to it.

 

He saw the medic shake his head before he returned to diagnosing him. The medic -Dufresne he remembered- put an arm under his and pulled him back to his feet. Dufresne lead him over to the couch and set him down on his uninjured side before he started to remove Wash's upper armor. Wash wasn't really comfortable with that, but he knew that it needed to be done in order to treat his wound.

 

He took a deep breath to try and stave off the darkness but it wasn't working anymore. He passed out just as Dufresne removed the final piece of armor.

*

When he came back to consciousness, it was to the sound of voices. The medic -Dufresne- and Epsilon were chatting. Well, more like Epsilon was bitching at Dufresne about Wash's condition. And that confused Wash. Why would Epsilon be concerned about him? Wash figured that the only thing that Epsilon would have remembered about him was that he hadn't been able to help the AI. Epsilon should hate him.

 

Wash hissed in pain as he tried to sit up. He opened his eyes to see both of them turned in his direction before Dufresne rushed to help him up slowly. Epsilon floated closer to his face once he was upright. It was almost as if he was trying to examine Wash's condition himself. Behind Epsilon, he could see Dufresne leaving the room.

 

"Morning Sunshine, how's the blood loss coming?" Epsilon asked and Wash snorted.

 

"I'll be fine in a little bit," at least that's what he told himself. Deep down he knew that he wouldn't be but he had to go after the Meta, "I have to find Church and Kai before the Meta does, so I don't have time to sit around."

 

"Uh, dude, I don't know if anyone told you this, but you just got split open by a really fucking big knife. You're not going anywhere for a while," the AI retorted and Wash just sighed in exasperation.

 

"You can't keep me here. One way or another I'm going after them. I'm not going to let the Meta take Church or hurt Kai again," he hissed at the Moniter, "And also, why don't you hate me? I figured that with all of your memories on lock down, you would only remember that I didn't help you."

 

"Yeah, well... Caboose told me stories about his adventures. He was the only one that ever talked directly to me while I was stuck in the Memory Unit. He told me all about how you didn't know that I was alive and that you came back for me when you found out. He told me a little bit about what happened to you during Freelancer too. I doubt that half of it was even right but he did say that I was unstable and that I couldn't handle it. For some reason, that just sounded... right," Epsilon explained, "I didn't really hate you anymore after that. I went looking for you because I knew that you had the answers that I needed."

 

"...I'm not sure if the answers that you seek will help you. If anything, they'll make you remember what happened and then you'll be rampant all over again. I don't want to do that you... I don't want you to go through that again," he didn't want to tell him because Epsilon was finally stable. He had a chance to become his own AI. To not be held down by all the terrible memories that he harbored.

 

"I know, but I need to know who I was so that I can move on and be myself," Wash sighed and gave in to Epsilon's plea.

 

And so he told him everything that he knew. Everything that Epsilon had known. By the time he was done, Epsilon was silent and Wash was worried about him. He had basically just given Epsilon an information overload. After a few minutes, Epsilon finally focused his 'eye' back on Wash and he wasn't sure if Epsilon had decided to shoot him or not.

 

"I'm sorry. For doing that to you. I don't blame you for what happened. I know that there's still some things missing. They might have transferred to Alpha when I came into contact with him before they left," and holy shit. A part of _Church_ had just apologized to him. Suddenly he was tempted to go see if the world was ending.

 

"I never blamed you Epsilon. You didn't ask for that to happen to you," Wash said as he slowly pushed himself off the couch. He had stayed far longer than he should have.

 

"Whoa! Hold on! What the fuck do you think you're doing!?" Epsilon screeched and Dufresne rushed back into the room.

 

"You shouldn't be moving! You'll open up the stitches!" All that that meant to him was that he had to be careful while he was driving. At least until he found Kai. He was pretty sure that the Healing Unit was with her, otherwise Dufresne probably would have brought it to him by now.

 

"I'll be fine. I just have to make it to Church and Kai. They should have the Healing Unit with them," he said as started walking to the door.

 

"Fuck that! You're going to sit the fuck down and heal some more! You can't even run the pain medication in your suit or you'll end up overdosing yourself and dying!" Epsilon yelled and Wash knew that he was right.

 

"Well then I guess that I'm just not going to use it. I've already told you that you're not going to stop me," Dufresne and Epsilon followed him as he walked down the hall.

 

"You know what, fuck it. If you're going to be so fucking stubborn about this, then I'm going with you. And _I'll_ be the one running the functions in your suit since you obviously can't do it yourself," Wash froze. He didn't know if he wanted Epsilon back in his implants, even if he did seem stable now. Last time had gone so badly and Wash never wanted to go through that again.

 

"I'll go too! Someone needs to make sure you don't bleed to death if you open that wound back up again!" Dufresne said cheerily. Him, Wash could handle. Epsilon was different.

 

"Epsilon, do you even know how to run my armor functions? Also, how do I know that this isn't going to turn out the same way it did last time?" He asked the AI.

 

"It can't be that hard. I'm sure I'll figure it out. That was supposed to be my purpose after all," that did not inspire confidence in him, "And you know, I remember a lot of the stuff you told me now. If I haven't lost it so far, I doubt that I'm going to. Have a little faith, David. It'll be alright this time. I promise."

 

Against his better judgment, Wash reached out to the Moniter that housed Epsilon's chip. Carefully, he removed it and stared at it for a minute before dropping the Moniter and looking at Dufresne, "If this goes wrong, pull the chip out as quickly as you can."

 

Wash removed his helmet and handed it to Dufresne, he reached his hand up to locate the AI slot at the base of his skull. The only reason he was even doing this was because Epsilon remembered his name without him even mentioning it to the AI. With his other hand, he pushed the chip into the slot. Wash let out a gasp and reached a hand out to the wall to steady himself. After a moment passed, Epsilon appeared in front of him and Wash knew that this time, everything was going to work out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll admit, I'm a sucker for Wash & Epsilon stories. I feel like they could have worked really well together if they had the chance so I decided that I wanted to try and explore that. Also, I made up the whole thing about Epsilon's memory lock down and how it works.
> 
> As always, if you have any questions about the chapter, feel free to ask!


	22. Revelation: It's Probably Best To Leave Ominous Things Alone, Then Again, That's Usually Where You Find What You're Looking For

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if you comment in the next day or so, I might not get back to you right away but I will answer before the next update. Tomorrow is going to be busy for me since I'm going to a New Years party tomorrow night after I go visit my dad. My brother called me earlier today and told me that my dad slipped on some ice when he was at his place up north and that he broke four of his ribs. I do not have high hopes for 2019 being a good year.
> 
> But enough of my rambling. Enjoy the chapter!

When she came to again, Kai found herself in the back of a jeep being driven by Church with Donut in the passenger seat. On the floor next to her was the Healing Unit. It was no longer glowing which meant that her wound was healed. She carefully pushed herself up and noticed that they were no longer anywhere near Valhalla. They were in the fucking desert and it didn't seem like they were going to stop any time soon.

 

Kai turned her torso enough so that she could see behind her. Following them were two Warthogs and she could see the colors Blue, Aqua?, Maroon, Red, Orange, and Brown. There was no Steel Gray and Yellow. That meant that Wash wasn't with them and that worried her.

 

"Where. Is. He?" She hissed at the two in front of her. Both of them jumped a little.

 

"Where's who?" Donut asked and Kai really didn't have time to put up with the playing dumb act. She was a fucking pro at that one and no one could fool her.

 

"Don't even pull that shit. Where the fuck is Wash!?" She watched as both of them flinched and Kai suddenly had a really bad feeling.

 

"Yeah... About Wash... He kind of told me to take you and get the fuck out of there because the Meta showed up," Church answered nervously and she really didn't blame him for it since he's seen her shoot a bitch in the face.

 

"That fucking idiot! I told him not to pull shit like this anymore and what does he do? He pulls it anyway! I swear if he's not already dead, then I'm going to kill him," so maybe that last part was a lie. She would fuck him first and then she would kill him, "Where the hell are we going?"

 

"I have an idea of how to find Tex. I got a few flashes from Epsilon when we were in Valhalla. One of them was of a storage facility near by here and another was an image of her going into a building in the snow. I figured that I'd check them both," Church answered.

 

So basically there was no way that she could get him to turn around and go back. Just fucking perfect. And on top of that, she had no idea if Wash was hurt or dead or alive. She also didn't know if the Meta knew that Church was the Alpha. She was going to guess that it knew and that that was why Wash sent them away in the first place.

 

Kai glanced up and noticed that the terrain had changed. It reminded her a bit of the scenery that she had seen in a documentary about a jungle expedition. Just with a few less trees. She tilted her head back and tried to think of just how she was going to find Wash again.

 

She could always wait until they got to where they were going and then hightail it back to Valhalla. But then there was still the pressing matter of the Meta, Epsilon, and Alpha. The last time she'd been awake, Epsilon was still with Caboose and if Caboose was with them now, then that meant that Epsilon had to be too. So she would stay with them for now to keep watch over both of the AI.

 

With her plan set, Kai drifted back off to sleep.

*

When she woke up again, they were just pulling into an area that looked like it hadn't been used in a long time. Church pulled up next to a massive tree that had a computer attached to it. Which Kai found a little strange since it didn't seem to have any wires leading into it. Church got out of the jeep just as the others showed up and stopped next to them.

 

"This is it. I have the feeling that I'll find her here," Church told them as he turned from looking at the wall to the computer.

 

"Oh, holy shit, dude. You brought us to a fucking wall. I can see how this is gonna save us from whatever the fuck that thing was," Tucker said sarcastically as he got out of the Warthog that he had been driving.

 

"It's a very nice wall," Caboose supplied.

 

"Not the wall idiots. It's _behind_ the wall," Church snarked and Kai could see how Wash always got a headache from dealing with them.

 

Kai got out of the jeep and walked up to Caboose, "Where's Epsilon? Wash is gonna be pissed at me if I don't keep an eye on it."

 

"Hey, Sister, 'sup girl?" Tucker said and Kai just looked at him before turning back to Caboose.

 

"Ouch. Shot down. I never thought I'd say this about any guy that my sister was interested in, but Wash is actually good for her," Dex said and that made Kai smile. For once in her life her brother actually approved of a guy that she liked.

 

"Um, well, you see... Epsilon is not here. He wanted to find Agent Washington because he had the answers that he wanted," Caboose finally answered.

 

"You have got to be fucking joking. Epsilon is _awake_ and he went after Wash? I guess that means that I'm guarding you from the Meta then," she turned to Church during that last part, "I'm sure Wash is going to be just thrilled about that reunion."

 

"Okay, seriously? Who the fuck is Wash? And what the fuck is going on?" Tucker asked.

 

"'Wash' is short for Agent Washington. Or Agent Hottie as I prefer to call him because that man is fucking hot! Anyway, he's a former member of Project Freelancer. He showed up in Blood Gulch like a few months ago and took me with him so that I wouldn't be alone anymore. Long story short, we hunted the Meta, took out Project Freelancers main base, and then got arrested. Technically, we're on parole right now. He made a deal to get us out after the Meta pulled a prison break. We take out the Meta and bring in Epsilon and in return we get a clean slate and don't go back to jail," Kai explained and anyone that didn't know just stared at her.

 

"You went to fucking _jail_!? Simmons and I thought that you and Wash eloped!" Dex cried and Kai just rolled her eyes.

 

"Don't I wish. With the way this is going, that's never going to happen because the guy Agent Hottie made the deal with was really fucking shady. Like to the point that we both know that even if we do what he wants, he isn't going to let us go. Right now we're trapped until we can find a way out. Which is going to be even harder to do since that fucker pulled another sacrifice play," Kai hissed. She was still very pissed about that. Wash was going to have to come up with something big to make this one up to her. Like sex. Lots and lots of sex.

 

"Are you guys done now? I want to get in there sometime today," Church bitched and Kai rolled her eyes and gave him a shooing motion to show that he could continue with whatever he was doing while she dealt with the idiots.

 

"So does this mean that we can't bang anymore?" Tucker asked. In the background she could hear Church yelling at the computer.

 

"No Tucker. We're not going to have sex. As surprising as this may seem, I do love Wash. And he loves me too. I've recently learned that you can fall in love with someone without ever having sex with them. But one of these days though, after all this bullshit is finally over, I'm going to fuck him. And we won't be leaving that room for like a week if I get my way," she said.

 

Kai heard the sound of stone moving against stone and turned around. Church had managed to get the computer to open the door. Caboose made a comment about how it looked spooky in there and Church agreed with him. Kai let out an exasperated sigh -she really had spent way too much time with Wash- and walked to the opening. She checked her motion tracker and then walked in.

 

She heard the others follow her but she paid them no mind. If she wanted to get back to Wash any time soon, then she would need to check this place for Tex. That was the only way that Church would leave here and she knew that they would need to leave pretty soon. Otherwise the Meta would track them down.

 

She followed the halls all the way to the equipment storage area. There were teleporters everywhere and Kai felt herself being drawn to one of them. She walked closer to it and stuck her hand through it. Looking around, she didn't see her hand pop out of any of the other ones in the room. That meant that this one went somewhere else. Maybe Church wasn't completely wrong about this place after all.

 

Everyone else was bickering around her and Church had wandered off to another room to keep looking. She took a deep breath and walked through the teleporter. The room that she walked into was stark white and had a steel containment unit on the wall across from her. There were a few metal storage containers in the room as well, but other than that, the room was pretty barren. Kai walked up to the containment unit and saw an AI chip in the side of it. The symbol for 'Beta' was emblazoned on it.

 

She carefully pulled it out of the slot and ran back to the portal. She had a bad feeling about this and she needed to get back out and place the teleporter in an area where no one would be able to enter or exit it. Once she was through, she looked around quickly and noticed a container that was wedged just close enough to the wall that she would be able to fit the teleporter through the gap and leave no space. After a minute, she had it in place. No one would be able to come through it now.

 

Kai sighed in relief and went off to go find Church. She wasn't going to tell him that she had found Tex yet. Not until they were far away from this place and whoever had been on the other side of that teleporter. She got a bad vibe from whoever it was.

 

After a few moments of wandering, she found Church in a room with a computer terminal. The Reds were with him and Sarge looked like he had just found out some world ending news. The man stalked off and Simmons finished up whatever he had been doing on the computer before following Sarge. Dex reluctantly followed after them.

 

"Find what you were looking for?" She asked after the Reds were gone. She knew that he hadn't but figured that this was the easiest way to get him to haul ass out of here.

 

"No. She's not here. But I did find a new body to use though. I found one for her too. I think I'm gonna take it with us in case she needs it," Kai felt bad for not telling him so she told him that she would help him move the body for Tex out to the jeep.

 

Once that was done, they walked back inside to tell the others that it was time to move on. The sight that greeted them when they walked into the storage hall was of two bases made out of some of the things that were lying around. And seriously? They were only gone for like four minutes.

 

"Well, I see that you all have been busy. We didn't find what we were looking for though. So we're moving on to the next place," Kai said and Sarge and the others didn't move.

 

"I'm not going. All we are is cannon fodder and I ain't even an actual leader. So I'm done. I quit," Sarge said and Kai's eyes widened. She knew that he had been in denial when Wash told them the truth but she didn't think that it was that bad.

 

"Fine then. Stay here. I don't fucking need your help to find Tex. I can do it on my own," Church spat and then turned and left.

 

"I'm going with him. Someone needs to protect Alpha from the Meta and Wash is going to be pissed if I just let him go off on his own. Later!" Kai turned and ran after Church. Once they were close to the next location, she would tell him about Tex. And as long as the others didn't touch any of the teleporters, they would be fine where they were.

 

Kai hopped into the passenger seat next to Church and nodded at him. And with that, Church started the jeep and took off in the direction of the next location that he had picked up from Epsilon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, back when I wrote this story, I was holding on to hope that the Meta didn't get Beta because they never flat out said that the Meta did. And up until about a week ago, I still had that hope because the Tex in season 10 felt too different from EpsilonTex. Plus, when Epsilon said 'I forget you' to Tex, it made me think that he just reassimilated her or that she was just left in the Memory Unit that was in a UNSC compound. Which the Director would have been either killed or arrested if he went in there and with the Project out of commission, he wouldn't have been able to send anyone to get it. It gave me hope that maybe it was Beta that we saw in season 10. Sadly, my hope was shattered. I'm not going to go back and change it though since that would mean rewriting half the story and I actually like it as is.
> 
> With that out of the way, I suppose I should probably explain the thing with Church and FILSS. Due to not having his memories, and having been told by Wash that he was based on the Director, AlphaChurch would probably exploit that and not question things since it isn't his main priority. I thought that he probably wouldn't bother to carry the conversation passed getting FILSS to open the door.
> 
> This is basically how I imagined things between them went:
> 
> _"This is a private facility. Only authorized personnel are allowed to enter."_
> 
> "Oh that's bullshit! I didn't come all the way out here for nothing! Open the fucking door!"
> 
> _"My apologies Director. I was not expecting to see you again so soon. Please, feel free enter."_
> 
> And with the door open, he'd just ignore everything else because Tex was more important than questioning things. At least that's what I think anyway. I could be wrong though.


	23. Revelation: Just Because It's Shiny Doesn't Mean That You Should Touch It, And Other Fun Adventures In Training Your AI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably should have mentioned this last chapter, but I was in a hurry and I forgot. Most of the Revelation chapters switch between Wash's point of view and Kai's point of view.
> 
> With that said, I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

Wash and Doc -Epsilon had told him that everyone called the medic that- walked through the halls of Red Base looking for a vehicle. Doc had told him that Lopez -the robot that Sarge built- had built a holographic chamber below Red Base. Wash figured that if the robot was capable of building that, then he was capable of building some sort of garage too.

 

He was proven right a few minutes later. The garage wasn't very big but it was big enough to store a Warthog and a Mongoose. Wash walked up to Warthog and checked for the keys. He was happy to find them already in the ignition. Doc walked up to the garage opener and pressed the button. The door opened slowly and Doc got in the Warthog after it was open.

 

Wash hesitated. In the back of his mind he could hear Epsilon muttering to himself as he tried to figure out how to operate the pain medication release in Wash's suit. After a moment had passed, he felt Epsilon try something and Wash felt a jolt shoot down his spine. He groaned in pain and grabbed the edge of the Warthog to keep himself upright.

 

"What the fuck was that?" He knew that this was a bad idea. Epsilon had no idea what he was doing.

 

Epsilon's avatar appeared in front of him, _"Sorry. I thought that was the right function. I'll get it right this time! I promise!"_

 

He felt Epsilon reach out to a different function in his armor and this time Wash felt a soothing feeling run through him, "Just, don't touch anything else right now, please? No matter how shiny it is. I don't want to crash into a tree because you thought that something does one thing when it actually does the opposite."

 

Epsilon just kicked the air and hung his head in shame. The action made Wash feel guilty and he didn't like that feeling. He got into the Warthog and then looked at Epsilon.

 

"You can look around and try to learn things about my suit but don't touch anything unless you are absolutely sure of what it does," he felt Epsilon perk up a bit at that and watched as he flickered out of sight.

 

Wash let out a deep sigh and started the Warthog. He pulled out of the garage and drove up to the hole in the wall that the Reds and Blues had created. He drove through it and turned to the right since that was the only direction that they could go.

 

After about ten minutes, he could see Doc fidgeting out of the corner of his eye. It was obvious that the man wanted to say something. Wash wasn't sure if he really wanted to hear whatever it was though. If he was anything like the Reds and Blues, then any conversation with him was sure to give Wash a headache.

 

"What is it?" He finally gave in with a sigh.

 

"Well... it's just that you seem so... different than you were earlier," Wash could tell that the man didn't really know how to ask about his shift in mood. He could also tell that Doc was trying not to offend him.

 

Epsilon snorted as he appeared between them, _"I wouldn't say different. Just you know, better at hiding it. Like right now, I'm getting a hint of irritation laced heavily with worry."_

 

"Epsilon," he hissed.

 

"Worry? Do you want to talk about it? I've heard that therapy can really take away a lot of stress and I'd be happy to help!" Doc chirped and all Wash wanted to do was slam his head into the steering wheel.

 

"The last time I talked to a therapist, I fantasized about putting a bullet in his head. Sadly, he wasn't on site at the time," Doc let out squeak at that.

 

_"Seriously? You can't threaten to shoot everyone that annoys you. Besides, from what I've seen of your memories, your girlfriend actually_ likes _half of those idiots,"_ Epsilon said and Wash just sighed. Again. It seemed like he had been doing that a lot lately.

 

"Girlfriend? Are you dating Kaikaina?" Doc asked and that was a whole other can of worms. Especially since he didn't really know what they were.

 

"We're not... I don't think we are? I mean, we know how we feel about each other but, the subject of dating never came up...," and why was he even talking about this with someone that he didn't even know? A soothing feeling rushed through him at that moment. Oh right, that's why.

 

_"You might as well be more than dating,"_ Epsilon snorted, _"The last time I was here, Grif was asking Sarge if he should set up a group betting pool on whether you two eloped or not. Sarge told him that no one would win any money because the vote would be a unanimous 'yes'. And then he called him a useless meat sack and told him that he was going to initiate operation 'Shotgun To The Face'."_

 

Wash blinked and then glanced at Epsilon before focusing back on his driving. He really didn't want to talk about his love life anymore. It wasn't anyone's business but his and Kai's. Though he did suppose that he would have to talk to her about it when they finally caught up to the others.

 

He pulled the Warthog to a stop and then looked at Epsilon. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Doc was confused about why they had stopped. Wash shut off the Warthog just in case something went wrong with his request. He didn't want accidentally press down on the gas pedal or anything like that.

 

"Um, why are we stopping?" Doc asked and Wash choose to ignore him for the moment.

 

"Epsilon, I hate to ask this, but is there any way that you can track which way they went? Anything at all? I'd even take heat signatures at this point," there, he said it. And he just knew that Epsilon was going to give him shit for asking that too. He _was_ part of Alpha and he remembered almost everything about the Alpha. Including the Alpha's sarcasm and snark.

 

_"In the desert?"_ Epsilon deadpanned and Wash sighed. He really shouldn't have been surprised by this. He had even expected it. But he hadn't quite been expecting that exact line.

 

"Yes Epsilon, I know that we are in the fucking desert," he really wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose right now, "You know what. Never mind. I'll figure something out."

 

_"Dude, I'm just fucking with you. It might be difficult for me to figure out how to do it, but I can do it,"_ Epsilon disappeared and Wash sent a wave of annoyance at him.

 

"And that is why we stopped. You might as well get comfortable, we could be here for a while," he told Doc as he leaned his head back against the seat.

 

"Do we have to stay here? I mean we can get out and go sight see at that temple over there," Doc asked and Wash turned his head to see the temple that the medic was talking about.

 

The structure was tall and even from the distance that they were at, he could see some sort of giant vehicle outside of it. That meant that it was an excavation site and Wash really didn't want to deal with the people running it. It usually meant UNSC officers were in the area and that would be very bad for him right now.

 

_Yeah... you really don't want to go over there. It's an alien temple and when I was there with Caboose, they were kind of worshiping me because I was in the alien tech Moniter. We kind of ditched them and I don't think that they'll be too happy to have company,_ Epsilon supplied and Wash decided to just take his word on it.

 

"According to Epsilon, we might want to stay here unless you want to get shot by a bunch of aliens," he told Doc and the man went still. Hopefully it was from a healthy dose of fear.

 

"Maybe staying here isn't such a bad idea," the medic laughed nervously before he paused, "You know, now would probably be a good time to check on that wound. It could be a while before I get the chance again."

 

As much as he didn't want to strip down in the middle of an open area, he knew that Doc had a point. Carefully, he unlatched the armor that was preventing the medic from checking his wound. After a few minutes he had the necessary pieces off and then he pulled at the seam of the Kevlar undersuit until his injured side was exposed.

 

Doc leaned over and pulled the cloth bandaging back enough to see the stitches. After a moment, he could feel the medic replacing the bandages before he pulled back and Wash pulled the undersuit back to its rightful place and then proceeded to put his armor back on.

 

"Everything looks alright so far. I just hope it stays that way for a little while longer," Doc told him as he put on the final piece of his armor.

 

_"Found it! At least I think I did. So David, you should tell me if your HUD is giving you a read out or not,"_ Epsilon said as he appeared in front of Wash. And really, he needed to talk to Epsilon about using his real name.

 

Wash pulled up the analysis read out screen on his HUD and saw that Epsilon had actually gotten it right. He felt a little proud of the AI for learning how to do something that it had never been instructed to do before. Epsilon sent a wave of pride at him after he nodded to let the AI know that he did well.

 

He started the Warthog up again and headed off in the direction of the jungle like terrain that came up after the desert ended. It would take another hour or so to get there but he figured that he could handle that. Unless they brought up his relationship status again. Then he might shoot Doc and pull Epsilon's chip out so that he could blow it up with a grenade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I thought it would be funny to have Wash travel with both Epsilon and Doc. Mainly because Doc pokes at subjects that Wash is uncomfortable with and Epsilon will encourage it because it amuses him.
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to ask.


	24. Revelation: If It Goes Rabid, Then Don't Trust It, It Will Turn On You Eventually Like That Dog In Cujo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm too tired to think of anything right now. So I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

Half an hour into the drive to the 'snow base', Kai was starting to regret leaving the others behind. At least they would have talked to her and kept her mind off of all the worst case scenarios that she kept coming up with. All she could think of in the silence was all the terrible things that could have happened to Wash. Was he hurt? Was he dying?

 

Those thoughts turned over to memories. She ended up thinking of the time that the Meta had almost killed him in front of her and that always lead her to the memory of him bleeding out on the floor of the Freelancer Command Center. Which lead back to the thought that he might be hurt or dying because he had stayed behind to face the thing that almost killed him twice.

 

It was a vicious cycle that she couldn't seem to break with the silence surrounding them. And on top of that, she could practically feel Tex's AI chip burning a hole in the storage slot in her armor. She felt guilty for not tell Church that she had found it and she felt guilty for not bringing Tex back yet. Kai knew that she only had to wait a little bit longer though. She just had to wait until they were about ten minutes away from where they were going.

 

Church had told her that the base was an hour away from the last one that they were at and now they were about 20 minutes out. In ten minutes, she would tell Church. Maybe then she would have something else to think about besides the state that Wash could be in. Or about the Meta.

 

And that was her final concern. The Meta was tracking them. It wouldn't stop at the storage facility, it would keep following them because it knew that Church was the Alpha. As much as she was sure that the Meta wanted Epsilon, she knew that it wanted Alpha more. Just from the name that it called itself, she knew that the Alpha had been it's main concern even when it had been stealing the other AI fragments.

 

It had wanted to be Metastable. It wanted to be _whole_. Even without the other fragments to push for it, the Meta would keep trying because that was what had been ingrained into it's very being before the fragments were destroyed. And now that she had Beta with her, it would be an added bonus for it.

 

Basically, they were fucked and this time there was no Wash around to get them out of it. But, they would have Tex in a few minutes at least. And Tex was a badass. She could handle the Meta. Or at least Kai hoped so, since she never got around to asking Wash just what emotion Tex had been. She just knew that Beta was a lot like the Director's late wife. And for some reason, Kai didn't think that Beta was the emotion for love.

 

In the distance Kai could see the area opening up more and a building beginning to come into view. It was now or never and she had the feeling that it needed to be now. She didn't think that there would be a later.

 

And Jesus Christ. Were those little dots in the distance guards? If they were then they were fucked because there was no way that Kai would be able to take on a whole building full of guards. For all she knew, they could be UNSC and they would report back to the Chairman. If that happened, then they would haul Kai back to jail and Wash as well if he somehow managed to find them all the way out here. They would do it whether they had completed their objectives or not because grace periods didn't last forever.

 

"Pull over. I have something that I need to show you before we get any farther," she told Church and surprisingly, he slowed the jeep to a stop.

 

"What the fuck is so important that you had me stop with our destination right there?" Church complained. And now she could see why Wash was always finding ways to get back at him. Then again, she did get to deck him a few times for his attitude. In fact, she was seriously considering doing it now too.

 

Kai reached into the storage slot in her armor and pulled out Beta's chip. She hesitated for a second before uncurling her fingers and exposing it to Church, "I found it back at the facility. I would have showed you sooner but there was something off about that place. I think there was someone else in the room I found her in. It was through one of the teleporters and I didn't want to stick around after I pushed the teleporter between the wall and a storage crate..."

 

"Are you fucking kidding me!? You mean to tell me that we came all this way for nothing!? That you had Tex the whole fucking time!?" She didn't blame him for being mad at her. She would have been just as pissed if she was in his place.

 

"I'm sorry, alright! I just didn't want to stay there and I knew that you would move to the next location if you didn't find her! Plus we needed to put some distance between ourselves and the Meta. I know Tex is awesome at fighting, but she would have had no time to prepare herself if we had woken her up back there. At least now she has a good half hour to get ready. That will also give Wash time to find us and help," she explained and she could tell that he was less pissed than he had been. He was still angry though.

 

Kai jumped out of the jeep and pushed the chip into the back of the robot body's neck. She watched as as it twitched a few times before coming fully on line. Church quickly jumped out as well and ran in front of the robot, pushing Kai out of the way in the process.

 

"Tex?" He asked and the robot swung a fist out and clocked Church in the visor, "Ow! What the fuck!?"

 

"Oh don't be such a bitch. What the fuck am I even doing here?" Tex asked and Kai just shook her head at their antics. She had the feeling that this was what her reunion with Wash was going to be like.

 

"I've been looking for you since your ship crashed, which by the way, took a year. If Wash hadn't shown up with Caboose and Kai, I would have never known where to even start looking for you," Kai saw Tex tense up when Church mentioned Wash and suddenly she had a bad feeling.

 

"You ran into Washington? Last I heard, he got implanted with Epsilon and it didn't go to well," something was really wrong. She didn't know what but she knew that she had to pull the topic away from Wash.

 

"Talk about it later. Right now we have bigger problems. And by that, I mean that the Meta is hunting us," Kai interjected.

 

"The Meta!? What the fuck is going on!?" Tex yelled at them.

 

So Kai explained everything that had happened since Tex's ship crashed. When she had finished, Tex tilted her head towards the base that they had been heading to. Kai watched as Tex switched from the back of the jeep to the driver's seat. Church looked at Kai for answers and she just shrugged and got in the back seat. Church opted to take the passenger seat.

 

"Hey, Sister. Give me your shotgun. I'm gonna need it in a few minutes," Tex demanded and Kai just rolled her eyes and handed Tex the gun.

 

Now that she was properly armed, Tex took off in the direction of the base. When they were close enough, Kai watched as Tex pulled the shotgun up and proceeded to shoot every guard that she was close enough to shoot. When there was a break in guards arrival, Tex stopped the jeep and got out. Tex ran at the newly arrived guards and took them all out until no more came out of the base.

 

"Seriously? Was that really necessary?" Church asked as he got out of the jeep and Kai decided that it would be best to follow suit.

 

"It was us or them," Tex shrugged, "Plus this area is the perfect to set up an ambush for the Meta and Wash."

 

Kai felt her heart freeze. Tex was going to hurt Wash. Tex was going to set up an ambush so that she could _hurt_ Wash. Like fucking hell Kai was going to allow her to do that. Why the fuck would Tex even needed to go after Wash?

 

"What do you mean take on Wash and the Meta!?" Church screeched and Kai actually agreed with him this time. She wanted to know just what the fuck Tex was thinking as well.

 

"Well, the Meta needs to be killed so that it can't go after anymore AI. Wash is just an added bonus. He'll have the answers that I need. He'll be able to tell me where the Director is since he had Epsilon. And if he can't, then I get to kill Wash as well. If I can't find the Director, then I'll just dismantle everything he ever built," Tex answered.

 

Kai pulled her pistol out to try and shoot Tex. She didn't even feel the least bit guilty about it because she knew that Tex would survive it. Tex kicked the pistol out of her hand and then slammed the butt of the shotgun into her helmet. Kai was stunned for a moment and in that time she heard a gun shot go off.

 

Dazedly, she glanced over in Church's direction and saw that he was now lying on the ground. There was a hole in the stomach of his armor. Kai tried to get back up again but Tex just stepped on her chest to keep her down.

 

"Since you told me that Wash was a Recovery Agent, that wound that I gave you would have activated his recovery beacon. He'll be coming here now. And when he gets here, I'll be ready for him. And for the Meta," Tex said.

 

"Tex? Why are you doing this?" Church asked.

 

"Honestly? It's because I've spent so long trying to find the Director. He needs to pay for what he did to us. And one way or another, Wash is going to help me," Tex answered and Kai could feel the panic clawing at her veins.

 

That was the last thing that Kai heard as she saw Tex swing the butt of the shotgun towards her visor again. Everything went dark after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's probably something that I should have explained here but I'm not really functioning right now. All I can think of is my relationship status with my bed. 
> 
> Any questions? Fell free to ask. And with that said, see you at my next posting!


	25. Revelation: This Is Not A Road Trip And No, You Can't Sing 99 Bottles Of Beer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say this time other than the fact that I bought a Rush CD purely because there were bunnies on the album cover. It's a good CD though so it all works out in the end. And yes, I love bunnies. And I also know that none of care that I did that. I'm in an odd mood today and felt like sharing that.
> 
> Enjoy the Chapter!

By the time they had reached the jungle terrain, Wash was fed up. There was still at least half an hour before they got to the place that the exhaust trail lead to. In that time, Doc had asked him if they could sing road trip songs. Epsilon had chimed in with what a good idea that was just because he knew that it would drive Wash up the fucking wall. He had quickly shot down every suggestion that they had made after that by stating that this wasn't a road trip.

 

After that, Doc had tried to give him some anger management tips and Epsilon had just laughed in the back of his mind. That lead to Wash telling Doc that if he kept it up then anger management would be the least of the man's worries because Wash was going to shoot him. Multiple times and then he would pull over to dispose of Doc's body by incineration. Thankfully, Doc had been rather quiet since then, only asking Wash if they were there yet every ten minutes or so.

 

By this point, Epsilon was having a grand fucking time and Wash had threatened to pull him and then blow his chip up with Doc's body when he finally snapped. This of course didn't deter Epsilon in the slightest. In fact, Wash was pretty sure that Epsilon was goading him. Wash didn't even think that Epsilon needed to be unstable to make him lose his fucking mind anymore. The AI was doing a fine job without the rampancy.

 

Dear God, he was so tempted to turn around and go back to that temple. Maybe killing the aliens would make him feel better. Or maybe he could kill the aliens, Doc, and Epsilon. That would solve all of his problems at once. Well, not all of them, but most of them. Okay, some of them.

 

 _Lighten up, David. You seem like you need some fun in your life. Well, at least until you finally get a chance to fuck your girlfriend. That should take away some of your stress,_ Epsilon commented and Wash was ready to just quit. Because fuck it.

 

 _We are not having this conversation. Right now I just want to focus on finding the others. Is that really too much to ask?_ Surprisingly, Epsilon was quiet for a bit.

 

"Hey Wash... can we stop for a couple of minutes? I'm cramping up and I really have to go to the bathroom," Doc requested and Wash really didn't want to stop but he also didn't want to put up with the whining that he knew was going to happen if he refused.

 

Wash slowed the Warthog to a stop and turned it off. He didn't know how long Doc was going to make him wait and he'd rather not waste the gas by leaving it idle for too long. He pulled the door open and carefully stepped out, a soothing feeling rushing through him as he did. Behind him, he could hear Doc getting out as well.

 

"No more than five minutes. I'd really like to get moving again soon," he told the medic as he began checking the Warthog for supplies. He had the feeling that he was going to need to be prepared.

 

 _"Well, it's nice to see that you have a healthy dose of paranoia,"_ Epsilon said sarcastically as he flickered into existence.

 

"Someone needs to or we could all die," he said as he rolled his eyes at the AI, "Have you picked up anything new since we reached here?"

 

 _"I felt that! And yeah. There's a trail that leads into an old run down base. My guess is that it's a storage facility. It's about half an hour from here,"_ Epsilon reported. Wash knew just about all of the storage facilities in the area and the one that Epsilon was talking about wasn't ringing any bells, _"There's a trail that leads away from it too. It's new. About a half hour old."_

 

"So that means that they stopped at the facility, either found what they were looking for or not, and then moved on to the next location. Or they're trying to keep ahead of the Meta," Wash concluded. Epsilon nodded.

 

_"Bingo."_

 

At that moment, Doc came back from wherever he had gone off to. Wash watched as he wandered back to the Warthog and then stopped. Doc hesitated for a moment before turning to face Wash. He was pretty sure that he knew what the medic was going to ask him.

 

"Hey... since we're stopped again... do you mind if I check your wound again. I get the feeling that we're not going to be stopping again any time soon," the medic inquired and Wash took a deep breath. This was taking up too much time but he knew it was for the best.

 

"Fine. But make it quick. We need to keep moving," he said as he began to unlatch his upper armor pieces.

 

Doc moved to help him with his armor but even then it still took a couple of minutes. Once the bandaging was visible, Doc pulled at it and took out a small flashlight to check the stitching since it was darker in the new terrain. He saw Doc take a cloth out of his medical kit and then the man dabbed at the stitches with it to see if it would come back with fresh blood on it or not.

 

As far as Wash could tell, there was none and that was confirmed when Doc gave a small nod. The man pulled at the bandages to tighten them a bit before tying them off again and moving back from him. Wash carefully pulled the Kevlar undersuit back to where it belonged and then proceeded to put his armor pieces back in their proper place.

 

Once he was done, he walked back to the driver's seat of the Warthog and got in. Doc followed his lead and got into the passenger seat. He started the Warthog again and then took off in the direction that the exhaust trails lead to. They were getting closer to the others. And so was the Meta.

 

About ten minutes into the drive, Wash was starting to get a bad feeling. Something was wrong and he didn't know what it was. Which just made the feeling even worse. Epsilon tried to send him waves of calmness but they weren't helping. He pressed his foot down harder on the gas pedal, going as fast as he could without hitting something if he turned a corner too sharp.

 

When they were just about to reach the path that lead to the facility, a loud beeping noise emanated from his armor. His recovery beacon was going off and that meant that someone was in trouble. More than likely, it was Church.

 

Wash slammed on the breaks, "Epsilon!"

 

 _"Give me a second! I'm getting the co-ordinates now!"_ The AI said, _"It's coming from a Freelancer Base about an hour away from here!"_

 

Wash knew exactly which one he meant when the location appeared on his HUD. It was the base closest to the _Mother of Invention's_ crash site. The place that they would have taken Alpha in order to move him to a new host. Because of course that would be one of the memories that Church picked up from Epsilon.

 

Wash slammed his foot on the gas, no longer concerned with crashing because he knew where to go now. At top speed, he figured that they could make it there in about 35 minutes. And even that wouldn't be soon enough for him. There was no doubt that Kai was with Church and he needed to get to her as soon as possible.

 

"Epsilon! Can you calculate every possible scenario for this?" He asked.

 

 _"Give me a couple of minutes. There are a lot of variables for this,"_ the AI answered and then flickered out of existence.

 

"H-hey! What's happening!?" Doc cried as he held onto the Warthog for dear life. If they had been in any other situation, Wash would have found this incredibly amusing.

 

"Prior to being fired by the Director of Project Freelancer, I was a Recovery Agent. Every time an AI was in jeopardy, that beacon would go off and I would be sent out to retrieve it. Or at least try to before the Meta got it first. I tried to take down the Project and after that I got arrested. I had thought that they would have removed the beacon from my suit. Apparently, they didn't," he explained.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Doc looked a little nervous at learning that he had been in jail up until recently. How could the man not have known that he was a Freelancer from his name? Then again, he didn't think that anyone had referred to him as anything other than 'Wash' around the man. Maybe Doc just thought it was an odd nickname...

 

 _"Alright. I have a few of the most likely scenarios of what we are walking into, and none of them are good,"_ Epsilon said as he flickered into existence on the dashboard between Wash and Doc, _"Ranging from 'bad' to 'fucking nightmare': the first one is that Alpha upgraded his armor at the facility before they left and Caboose shot him. The bad part is that the Meta would get the beacon too since rumor went around when I was in storage that it stole that tech from some facility. No one ever mentioned which one though._

 

_"The next one is that they found Tex and brought her back. This is the 'nightmare' scenario. Another one of the rumors that went around when I was in storage, was that Tex was hunting the Director. If they brought Tex back, then this is most likely a set up to draw you and the Meta out. Either way she is going to try and kill the Meta so that it doesn't take them. She'll be gunning for you next because you had me and you're the most likely to know where the Director is in her eyes._

 

_"The 'fucking nightmare' scenario is that the Meta found them, killed everyone in it's way, and took Alpha."_

 

"Damn it," he hissed, "What are my options then?"

 

 _"Well, if it's the last one, we're basically fucked. If it's the first one, we might have a chance at stopping the Meta from killing everyone and taking Alpha if we get there quick enough. Adding in your injury though, we're gonna need all the help we can fucking get. It's still possible though. But if we're dealing with Tex, all bets might be off. If we help her kill the Meta we'll still have to deal with her next and with your injury, she's probably going to beat your ass into the ground,"_ Epsilon reported and Wash was not liking any of this.

 

"When we get there, I'll need you to take Alpha and Kai as far away as you can, Doc. The Meta will go after him and Kai can't take another hit. Her blood count won't be high enough and if she gets hurt, she could die. Healing Unit or not. And that can't happen," because if it did, there was no telling just what Wash would do. He might just become the thing he hates the most if he loses her.

 

And why the fuck wouldn't this Warthog go any faster!? He needed to find them _yesterday_. Not in 20 minutes from now. He never should have let this happen. He should have just left Kai in Blood Gulch. At least then she would have been safe. She never would have gone to jail and she never would have gotten shot. She never would have ended up at that base, possibly dead or dying if it hadn't been for him. No matter how he looked at this, it was all his fault.

 

 _You need to calm down. You won't be able to do shit if you keep thinking like this. You're supposed to be some sort of badass, now fucking act like one!_ Epsilon scolded him.

 

Wash took a few deep breaths. He knew Epsilon was right but it was still hard for him to focus. By the time he finally calmed down enough, he could see the tall point of the base rising up from the horizon. They would be there soon.

 

And how had he not noticed the terrain change? Had he been that lost in his thoughts this whole time that he didn't notice? He heard Epsilon hum in the back of his mind to let him know that that was exactly what had happened.

 

When they were closer, Wash stopped the Warthog and got out. He saw Doc get out as well out of the corner of his eye as he examined the area. It was quiet which meant that the Meta was either already here and biding it's time or that it would be there soon. The cliff walls were tall and he knew that they would be perfect for a sniper.

 

Across the open area, he could see Cobalt Blue armor and bright Yellow. Church was hunched over and holding the spot where he had obviously been shot. Kai was lying on the ground behind him and Wash couldn't tell if she was hurt or not from his position.

 

"Epsilon, is there anyone up on the cliffs?" He asked the AI.

 

 _"No. Their hiding near the base. They're waiting for you to get closer. And before you ask, your girlfriend's vitals check out. She's just unconscious,"_ Epsilon replied, _"I'd be careful though. This whole place has been turned into battle arena. There are mines planted in the ground about 30 feet in front of us."_

 

"Looks like they expected us to stop there then and not here. I'm willing to bet that they were going to set them off when I parked there," he said and Epsilon nodded, "Doc, take the Warthog and drive along the edge of the cliff. Get Church and Kai out of here. I have the feeling that I'm not going to be leaving here so easily."

 

"Got it," Doc said as he ran around the Warthog to get to the driver's side. Wash watched as he drove off in the direction that Wash had told him to take.

 

"Epsilon, stay out of sight. I don't think the Meta's here yet and I'd rather it didn't know about you yet," Epsilon nodded and flickered out of sight.

 

Wash took a deep breath and slowly let it out before making his way into the open. He skirted around the mines that Epsilon had told him about. Half of his attention was on scoping out the area and the other half was on his motion trackers. Epsilon sent out another dose of pain killers and Wash was glad that he had. He was probably really going to need them soon.

 

When he made it halfway to Church and Kai's location, his motion tracker went off and alerted him to the fact that someone was behind him. He spun around just in time to see the mines light up and go off. The resulting explosion sent him flying backwards.

 

 _You need to move left, now!_ Epsilon cried and Wash rolled to the left to escape whoever had tried to attack him. As he got to his feet, he saw pitch Black armor and out of the corner of his eye, he could see White and Black with an Orange dome visor.

 

And wasn't that just his fucking luck. He was stuck between Project Freelancers biggest powerhouses. Texas and the Meta.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't think of anything that I might need to explain this time. If something didn't make sense, just ask me about it and I'll explain it. Or if you just have any questions at all, feel free to ask.


	26. Revelation: Once You're On The Rollercoaster, It's Too Late To Get Off In The Middle Of The Ride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing really to say this time other than let the battle begin! And that I hope I did a good job on it. I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

_I don't suppose you have any bright ideas about how I should handle this situation do you?_ He asked Epsilon while he looked between the Meta and Texas.

 

 _Only one. Get to the jeep at the base. I'm picking up the signature for some sort of Freelancer Tech. I'm betting it's the Healing Unit,_ Epsilon responded.

 

Apparently, Texas had had enough of the stalemate and she fired at Wash as she ran at the Meta. Wash rolled to the right and ran for the jeep once he got back to his feet. If he could, he would stay out of this battle for as long as possible. That would give the Healing Unit time to close his wound further. And with Epsilon to run it, it would work at full strength like it was supposed to.

 

 _Dodge left!_ Epsilon cried and Wash did. The grenade that was launched at him by the Meta's Brute Shot flew passed him and blew up the ice formation in front of him.

 

Wash came out of the roll and pushed off with one of his feet, sending him forward and back into a run, _Epsilon! Odds!_

 

 _With the distance between you, you should be fine unless they decide to outright target you. You should be good for another minute since it looks like Tex thinks that you are going for Alpha and Kai. There's a good chance that she'll hold off the Meta from coming this way until Alpha is out of the Meta's reach,_ the AI reported.

 

Good. That gave him time to grab the Healing Unit and install it on his way to help Doc since it looked like the man was struggling. A minute later, Wash made it to the jeep and thanked every deity possible that it was in fact the Healing Unit. He grabbed it from the floor of the back seat and started to hook it up as he ran over to Doc.

 

When he made it to the medic, he quickly finished installing the unit and then moved to help Doc pick up Church as Epsilon ran the Healing Unit, "Grab his legs. We'll move him first since he will be the heaviest. If it comes down to it, I can move Kai on my own."

 

 _David! Cover Kai!_ Epsilon shouted and Wash dove over Kai to cover her as the Warthog blew up.

 

Wash pushed himself away from Kai and looked over to check on Doc and Church. They were both fine and it looked as though Doc had seen the grenade coming before Wash had since the man had pulled Church farther away from the blast.

 

And now they had a new problem. The Meta had blown up the vehicle that he was going to have them escape in. He was also willing to bet that if they even tried for the jeep that it would meet the same fate as the Warthog.

 

"Damn it! We need to move them out of the way! Help me get them to the base! Take Kai!" He ordered and Doc complied.

 

About halfway to the base, Wash heard Texas groan which meant that he needed to help her. If the Meta got Beta, then it would be near impossible for Wash to take it on. Even with Epsilon to help him. He told Doc to protect them as he ran off to join the battle.

 

Wash took out his combat knife after attaching his rifle to the mag strip on his back. He watched as the Meta landed a hit that sent Texas to the ground. He jumped off the ground and landed a kick to the Meta's chest and then slammed his knife into the Meta's back. The Meta roared and lashed out with it's Brute Shot. The blade cut into Wash's armor and sent him flying back.

 

He hit the ground and rolled a couple of times only for a grenade to land near him and send him even further away from the fight. Wash slowly got to his feet, he could feel that the wound in his side had reopened. Which meant that things were about to get even worse.

 

And he was right. He turned back to the fight and saw the Meta pull something from it's back. When the Meta activated it, a long spike jutted out of it. The Meta had created a Capture Unit and chances were, it had found and used the Epsilon Unit to do it. Now, the Meta didn't even need Beta's chip to use her.

 

Just as he was about to rejoin the fight, he saw Texas pull out a detonator. She pushed the button and Wash felt the ground rumble. He looked behind him and saw that the charges had been hooked up to the cliffs and once they went off they had created an avalanche.

 

"Damn it!" He yelled as he took off running to try and get out of range of the snow.

 

He made it over to the cliff side of the fortress area and fired a few rounds at the Meta to keep it from hitting Texas with the Capture Unit. He saw Texas pull out another detonator and press the button. The cliff side started to shake and Wash didn't even need Epsilon to tell him what was going to happen next.

 

Wash ran towards the area where the cliff was fracturing off from. He jumped over the cracks that were forming on the prematurely eroding cliff. He followed Epsilon's instruction to jump onto the broken chunk of ice to his left and then the piece that was in front of that one to the right. From there, Wash leaped at the stable edge and barely made. He pulled himself up onto the cliff just in time to see the Meta run at Texas with the Capture Unit.

 

He quickly pulled his pistol and shot the unit out of the Meta's hand and saw Texas take that opportunity to stab the Meta with her own combat knife. The blade pierced into the Meta's stomach and Wash took that chance to fire rounds from his assault rifle.

 

The Meta hissed and then landed a hard kick to Texas' chest, sending her back a ways, before it ran at Wash and swiped at him with it's Brute Shot. Wash dodged backwards and latched his rifle to the mag strip. He threw a punch at the Meta while it was overbalanced from the swing and grabbed Texas' combat knife from it's stomach.

 

 _Epsilon, now!_ He called and the AI flickered into sight next to Wash.

 

The Meta froze for a second before it started to reach for Wash's throat. Wash took that chance to drive the knife into the Meta's jugular vein before he pulled the pin out of a grenade and jumped back a couple of time so that he would be out of reach of the blast radius. He threw the grenade to the right of the Meta and just out of reach of it's feet. The resulting explosion sent the Meta flying over the cliff. 

 

Wash placed his hands on his knees and hunched over, breathing heavily for a moment. Once he had caught his breath enough, he walked over to the cliff edge and peered over. He needed to make sure that the Meta was gone. Nothing. That meant that for once in his life, something had finally gone right.

 

Until he remembered that Texas was still there. His eyes widened and he spun around, only to be met with the sight of a shotgun pointed at his visor. Behind her, he could see Church and Doc running towards them. It seemed as though Church had finally recovered enough to move.

 

"Hey there, Wash. You can either tell me where the Director is hiding or I can shoot you. I'm not really particular about the order either," she said as she cocked the shotgun.

 

"How the hell would I know that? After Epsilon, he probably found a new hole to crawl into. He always knew that Epsilon was memory and he suspected that he left me everything that he knew," because he really didn't know where that man was hiding. If he did he would have gone after him instead of Command.

 

"Wrong answer," Texas lowered the gun and then pulled the trigger.

 

The shot tore into his stomach where the armor didn't cover and Wash could tell that it just missed his spine upon exiting. He could hear Epsilon screaming in the back of his mind as he fell to his knees. Wash reached his hand up to cover the entrance point. Another set of screams reached his ears and he saw Purple and Cobalt rushing to him.

 

 _"Shit! David! You need to stay awake!"_ Epsilon cried as he appeared in front of Wash.

 

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Tex!? Wash probably would have helped you!" Church.

 

"I'm not sure if there is much I can do! I've improved as a medic but he's taken too much damage! I can try though!" Doc.

 

His eyes fluttered and then focused again. It was just in time to see the butt of a pistol slam into the back of Texas' helmet, sending her off balance and out of the way of the person that clocked her. Bright Yellow assaulted his eyes. Kai was awake and he knew that she was pissed.

 

"Move!" She yelled at Church and Wash thought that the AI made a pretty smart decision when he did what he was told.

 

Kai dropped to her knees next to him and then yanked his helmet off. The frigid air practically froze his lungs when he breathed in but the shock of the temperature change woke him more from his daze. His eyes drifted over to her and he stared at Kai's visor where he knew her eyes were.

 

"Why do you keep fucking doing this to me!? Why do you keep making promises if you know that there's a chance that you'll break them!?" Kai screamed and he wasn't sure if he really deserved her wrath right now since he didn't do this on purpose.

 

"Kai... the beacon. They'll be coming for us now," he breathed out and Kai tensed. She knew exactly what he meant, "Take Epsilon and run."

 

"I'm not leaving you. We're in this together," Wash was really starting to hate how stubborn she could be sometimes.

 

He hissed in pain as Doc worked frantically to remove his armor. In the background he could see Texas tilt her head as she watch the scene in front of her. Darkness was creeping at the edge of his vision and the only thing that was keeping him from passing out was the cold. He knew that that wouldn't last much longer though.

 

Wash glanced back at Kai before looking to the sky as a noise drew his attention. Beyond the cliff wall close to the base he could see a Pelican coming in fast. A trail of smoke coming from behind it as it shook. It was obviously damaged somehow and he knew that it wasn't the UNSC yet.

 

 _Those idiots are late,_ he mentally snorted and Epsilon hummed in agreement.

 

As the aircraft was coming down hard, Wash felt his eyes close. Darkness consuming him as everyone around him started screaming at him to stay awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I kind of borrowed the Epsilon part from the death battle in season 14. Just with the Meta hesitating less because there were no other AI with the Meta to make it hesitate for more than a second or two.
> 
> If you have any other questions about the chapter, feel free to ask!


	27. Revelation: When In Doubt, Fall Back On The Most Idiotic Plan You Can Come Up With, Chances Are It'll Work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing to say this time. Enjoy the chapter!

Kai panicked as she watched the snow around Wash turn red and melt. He was losing too much blood too fast. At this rate, he would bleed to death in the next few minutes. As much as she would have loved to have stayed by him and held on to him, she knew that Doc needed the space so that he could work. Doc wasn't the best medic but he was all they had and she would let him do what he could.

 

A little white light flickered into Kai's view. She watched it take form and become an armored soldier holding a sniper rifle. The most logical conclusion that she could come to was that this must be Epsilon. And if it was in this state then it must be implanted in someone. Kai really didn't think that it was Wash but then again, he had shown quite a bit of care towards the AI. Maybe even enough to try again.

 

A loud crash sounded from the other side of the canyon and Kai looked over to see that a Pelican had crash landed and that it was skidding towards the cliff side at an alarming rate. It was far enough over though that it would miss them. Which was good because she didn't think that it was safe enough to move Wash yet.

 

She watched as the ship came to a halt just before it would have fallen over the cliff. The Reds, Tucker, and Caboose all came crashing out of the ship and Kai saw Sarge yell at Dex about something. Dex said something back and then Sarge kicked the Pelican and it toppled over the cliff. Which honestly, she didn't think was even possible.

 

Kai heard the snow crunch to her right and turned her head to see Tex trying to get closer. She leveled her gun at her to keep her from getting any closer to Wash. He was like this because of her and there was no way that Kai was going to let her anywhere near him to try and finish the job.

 

"Stay away from him," Kai hissed and Tex stopped and cocked her head to the side.

 

"Well, look who finally grew a backbone," Tex said with amusement. She must have thought that Kai was bluffing, "Get out of my way or I will make you."

 

"Looks like you're going to have to make me. I've come far too close to losing him one too many times and I'm not going to let you finish this," she said coldly, "You once told me that I couldn't have any of the guys back in Blood Gulch because they were your idiots. Well, they all left and Wash found me and I don't care if you have history of any kind with him from back in the Project. Wash is _mine_ and I'm not going to let you or anyone else take him away from me."

 

Tex stared at her and Kai heard someone come up next to her. She glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw that it was Church. Kai kept her gun leveled at Tex in case she decided to make a move. Blue armor appeared behind Tex and that was when Church must have finally decided that this needed to end.

 

"Caboose, why don't you give Tex a hug since you haven't seen her in a while," Kai could practically see Caboose light up at that thought and the taller man enthusiastically wrapped his arms around Tex's arms and stomach and lifted her off the ground from behind.

 

Kai heard the sound of metal straining as Caboose squeezed Tex. The AI let out noises of protest and tried to escape but Caboose proved to be too strong. Kai took a page out of Wash's book and laughed coldly at the sight. Tex deserved this for hurting Wash.

 

Epsilon appeared in front of Kai at that moment, _"You need to unhook the Healing Unit from David's armor. I can't run it while that part of his armor is removed. It needs to be run manually."_

 

She nodded and turned to Church, "Keep her away from him. I don't care how you do it."

 

Church nodded at her and Kai turned and walked over to Wash's discarded upper armor. Carefully, she unhooked the Healing Unit and set it next to Wash. The green glow emitted from the device once she activated it.

 

Donut ran over at some point to help Doc and Kai couldn't be more thankful for his help since she had no idea what to do. So, to keep from getting in their way, Kai turned back to the events going on behind them. The rest of the Reds and Tucker had joined Church and Caboose. Surprisingly, the Reds stood between Tex and Wash.

 

Sarge had his shotgun pointed at Tex. She had the feeling that deep down Sarge actually liked Wash and that he was protecting him from the threat. Dex was much the same as Sarge but she knew that her brother was doing it to protect her more than Wash. Even if he had admitted that Wash was good for her. Simmons on the other hand, was standing nervously off to the side next to Lopez who looked like he didn't care what happened.

 

Kai walked up next to Church and listened to the argument that was taking place. She had never actually thought that Church would ever stand against Tex since she was the only one that he had ever actually cared about. She supposed that there was a first time for everything though.

 

"What the hell are you doing, Tex!?" Church cried.

 

"I'm saving us from being turned over to the Director or worse! If he's dead then he can't bring us in! Which, according to her," Tex pointed at Kai, "is what he was assigned to do!"

 

"You must have missed the part where Kai said that he would never do that to me, to you, or to Epsilon! He tried to save me by sending me away when the Meta attacked Valhalla. Wash probably knew that there was a chance that he would never find us again after that. Not to mention that he told me that he didn't trust the guy who sent them after us," Church pointed out.

 

Kai froze at that. She had forgotten that Wash's beacon must have gone off and that now, the UNSC would be on their way to take them back, "Shit! We might have a problem."

 

"You mean there's a bigger problem than Tex trying to kill your boyfriend?" Dex asked.

 

"A wound like the one that Tex gave him would have been enough to set off his recovery beacon. The UNSC will be coming here to take us back and they'll probably take Church, Tex, and Epsilon too. You all need to get out of here and take Epsilon with you," Kai explained.

 

"I have an idea," Caboose spoke up and Kai was unsure if it would be good or not. Then again, he did come up with the plan to get into Freelancer Command.

 

"Oh shit. Please tell me that you're not actually thinking about listening to him, are you?" Tucker asked.

 

"Why not. He's come up with a good idea once before and right now I'll take any suggestions that I can get," she said as she motioned for Caboose to continue.

 

"We, uh, we make them think that Agent Washingtub is dead! We can leave his armor here and then we can take him with us!" Caboose cheered.

 

"One problem there Bluetard. They're gonna want a body and empty armor ain't a body," Sarge said.

 

"Well, um, Church can do his ghost thing and then we can, uh, give Agent Washingtub his armor," Caboose said and that actually gave Kai an idea for a plan.

 

"He actually might be on to something. I have an idea," she said as she looked at the others, "As much as I'd rather leave you to rot for what you did to Wash, I won't because I know that he doesn't want that. So here's what we're gonna do; once Doc is done trying to fix Wash, we're going to switch Wash's armor with Church's. Church, you're going to piggy back with someone else and so is Tex. That way it will look like Wash and Tex took each other out or that you guys showed up and finished the last one standing. Wash will pose as Church and keep Epsilon with him. We'll short out the Memory Unit to make it look like one of the AI got trapped and stuck in there.

 

"As for me, I'll leave with Doc, Donut, and Lopez. We'll pick up a couple of bodies for Church and Tex at the last facility we were at and a spare that we'll dress in my armor and drop off at Valhalla. If they ask about me, tell them that the Meta killed me there. It wouldn't be far from the truth since I did almost die there when the Meta shot me. All we really need now is a place to meet up and then we'll think of someplace that we can hang out to lay low for a while."

 

"You know, that actually ain't a bad plan. Here's hopin' your boyfriend lives long enough to go through with it," Sarge said as he walked over and retrieved the Memory Unit.

 

"Hey, uh, Kai? Would you mind if maybe, I went with you? I'm not exactly thrilled with my other options and I'd go with Caboose but I have the feeling that he's the only one that Tex might be willing to ride with...," Church asked and Kai knew that Wash would hate her taking an AI but she also knew that she was the only other person besides himself that he would trust to protect Alpha. So she agreed.

 

"Looks like I'm with you Caboose. Just make sure that you keep quiet about me or I will kick your ass," Tex told the Blue soldier.

 

Kai moved around Tex and pulled her chip from the AI port and told Caboose to take off his helmet. Once he had, she gently placed Beta's chip in his implant slot before moving on to Church and doing the same for them. Simmons and Dex then proceeded to remove Church's armor and Sarge brought over the Memory Unit and handed it to her before moving over to Wash's armor and taking the pieces that were already removed over to Dex and Simmons.

 

Tucker walked over to Doc and Donut and started to remove the rest of Wash's armor while Kai pressed the button on the side of the Memory Unit to extend the metal spike. She walked over to Tex's armor and shoved the spike into the visor before retracting the spike and then messing with some of the wiring to make it short out. Once that was done, she threw the unit into the snow a little ways away from them.

 

She then walked over to Dex and Simmons to help Sarge take the pieces of Church's armor over to Tucker so that he could put them on Wash. They grabbed the rest of the pieces that Tucker had removed and brought them over to Dex and Simmons. After a few minutes, they had Church's body dressed in Wash's armor.

 

Kai turned back to Doc and saw that he had just finished working on Wash and that Donut had started helping Tucker dress Wash in the Cobalt armor. Doc proceeded to put his medical supplies away and Kai walked over and started to hook up the Healing Unit once they put the chest piece on Wash. When it was all said and done, Kai called Epsilon out and asked him for a report on Wash.

 

 _"He's stable for now. I'm running the Healing Unit at full strength. He should be good to go by the time the UNSC shows up. All that's really left now is to come up with a meeting place and for you to get out of here and place a body at Valhalla,"_ Kai nodded and then turned to Doc, Donut, and Lopez.

 

"Can one of you grab the jeep while the rest of us figure out where to meet?" Lopez responded with a 'si' and then walked off to get the jeep. Kai figured that it was because no one else would understand him and that he didn't want anyone to touch and/or possibly destroy their get away car.

 

"So does anyone have any idea where to meet up?" She asked and everyone looked at each other.

 

"What about the, uh, place with the thing," Caboose threw out and everyone just shook their heads.

 

 _"He means the power plant that you guys fought the Meta at,"_ Tex supplied as she appeared.

 

"That could work. We'll decide if we're staying there or if we'll go someplace else later. Once the UNSC lets you guys go, head there. We'll catch up once we are done," Kai said and then turned back to Doc and Donut, "You two ready? We'll be heading out as soon as Lopez gets the jeep here."

 

They both nodded and Kai walked over to Wash. He was still out and she didn't think that he was going to wake up for a little bit from all the blood that he lost. She knelt at his side and pulled his helmet off before removing her own. She set them both down next to her and then placed a hand on his face. Kai leaned over and gave him a short kiss before she pulled back.

 

"See you soon, Agent Hottie," she told him and then removed her hand and put his helmet back on. She put her's on as well and then stood.

 

Just then Lopez pulled up and Donut climbed into the passenger seat while Doc and her climbed into the back. She wish them luck and then took one final look at Wash as Lopez sped off in the direction of the Freelancer storage facility.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one more chapter left. It makes me sad to see this story coming to an end because I had a lot of fun writing it.
> 
> As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask!


	28. Revelation: It's Not Really An End If It's A New Beginning, After All, Nothing Really Ends Until You Die

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a sad day. We have reached the end of this story. You all have been awesome and this story did far better than I expected it to due to it being such a rare pairing. Thank you to everyone that commented, subscribed, bookmarked, and left a kudos! It made me feel like I hadn't completely fucked this up.
> 
> On a random side note, has anyone else ever noticed that the song _The Trees_ by Rush gets really fucking dark at the end? I only brought it up because it was playing while I was coding this.
> 
> Anyways, without further ado, I hope you all enjoy the end of this story!

By the time he was lucid, he could hear a Pelican landing. He opened his eyes just in time to see Sarge and the Aqua? soldier lifting him to his feet. Wash blinked a few times and hissed at the pain. In the back of his mind, Epsilon was telling him everything that had happened and what the plan was. It was probably in his best interest to stay as quite as possible. For all he knew, the UNSC soldiers that had been sent could be ones from the prison and Wash did not want his voice to be recognized.

 

He listened as the Reds, Caboose, and the Aqua? one told a grandiose story about how they had swooped in and took out Wash after the Meta had taken out Tex and after Wash had taken out the Meta. He smiled in amusement at the thought that it was possible for them to take _him_ out. Honestly, he'd kick all of their asses. Especially with Epsilon's help.

 

_Damn right we would!_ Epsilon cheered and Wash almost let out a laugh at that but managed to hold it in. He tuned back in to the conversation.

 

"And where the hell did the Pelican in the water come from?" The soldier questioning them asked.

 

"Hm, I dunno. I guess the Meta must have hijacked it. And crashed it here. That makes sense, right?" The Aqua? one answered.

 

"Man, the Chairman is gonna be _pissed_. The budget only allows for one crashed Pelican per mission," the soldier paused, "All right, well I guess you guys check out. You can head back to your training bases now."

 

"We just call them bases," Sarge told the man.

 

"Hmph. I bet," the soldier muttered.

 

"Hey, we solved your problem. Not bad for 'trainees'," Grif retorted.

 

"Gotta hand it to you. It must have been a bitch to take this guy out. The Chairman will _not_ be happy that he's dead though. I think he wanted to debrief him and his partner personally," the man paused, "Speaking of his partner, any idea what happened to her?"

 

"The Meta shot her back at Valhalla. We tried to call a medic for her since she was originally from the Blue Team back at our first base, but the Meta jammed the signal somehow. After she died, he," Simmons pointed to the body that was supposed to be Wash, "lost it. Started going after all of us."

 

Now that Wash thought about it, that actually wouldn't have been too far from the truth if Kai would have died back in Valhalla. Any sort of fragile sanity that he was hanging onto at this point would have shattered and he would have probably tried to kill all of them. They might not know it, but they all owed their lives to Church.

 

"Just great. Now the Chairman is going to be _more_ than just pissed since their both dead," the soldier said.

 

"Yeah...," the Aqua? one trailed off only for Caboose to finish for him.

 

"Yeah, that's too bad."

 

"Well, be sure to let him know we're sorry," Wash decided to chime in sarcastically. He really wasn't sorry in the least that him and Kai were finally getting out of this and that they hadn't lost anyone or any of the AI.

 

"Whatever, you're free to go. If we need you, we know where to find you," the man said as he turned and ran over to another soldier that was kneeling next to the Memory Unit.

 

"I know that you guys didn't need to help us, but thanks. Kai and I owe you for this," he told them.

 

"Well, you helped us first so I thought it would be nice to do the same," Caboose happily chirped as he started to walk in the direction of a Warthog.

 

"Plus, the teams are actually even for once. Even though he says he's the leader, Church is too much of a shit shot to actually be able to help Blue Team," the Aqua? one added as he followed Caboose.

 

_Oh that's bullshit. The real reason they helped you two is because they are afraid of your girlfriend. Caboose told Tucker and I all about how she shot South in the face for what she did to you,_ Epsilon told him and Wash actually hadn't known that Kai did that. It would explain why he never heard anything about South while he was in prison.

 

"Epsilon says that you two are afraid of Kai," he told them.

 

"Who wouldn't be!? She shot someone in the _face_!" Tucker cried as he got into the driver's seat of the Warthog.

 

Caboose hopped up to the gunner position which left Wash to take the passenger seat. He knew it was for the best since he was still healing. That still didn't mean that he was comfortable with someone he didn't even know driving.

 

Tucker started the Warthog and drove off in the only direction that they could go to get out of the canyon. They got away no problem since the soldiers were distracted by the Reds stealing one of their ships. Wash was almost amused by this. And as much as he'd rather be awake with a stranger driving, he felt his eyes drift shut. He needed the rest to recharge after all the blood that he lost.

*

A couple of hours later, he woke to find that they had reached Zanzibar. Tucker was just pulling into the entrance to the base and Caboose was happily chatting with Epsilon and Texas. Wash assumed that it was so Caboose didn't get bored and hop off somewhere along the way.

 

Wash adjusted his position and let out a hiss of pain. He could feel the Healing Unit still working and he knew that it would still be a few days before he was completely fine due to all the injuries he had. According to the read out that Epsilon had sent to his HUD, he also had two broken ribs and a fractured one. Along with that, there was shrapnel wounds as well from the grenade that the Meta almost hit him with. Some of them were pretty deep too.

 

_"Oh good. You're awake. If I wasn't already in your head I would have started to think that you went into a fucking coma,"_ Epsilon bitched when he appeared in front of him, _"You took a lot of damage. And if you had just fucking stayed put like I told you, this wouldn't have happened!"_

 

"Sorry, mom. Next time I'll let the scary monster take all of you and become unstoppable," he deadpanned.

 

Epsilon shrieked at him and Wash smiled in amusement, _"That's it! I'm not giving you any more pain medication! You can just suffer!"_

 

"Guess that means I'll have to run it myself and possibly overdose now that everything is over," Wash snarked and the AI just rage quit on him. He could feel Epsilon fuming in the back of his mind after he disappeared.

 

When Tucker pulled to a stop, Wash still felt the pain killers rush through him before he attempted to get out of the Warthog. This just proved that Epsilon still liked him no matter how pissed he was at Wash. He felt Epsilon shove a feeling of annoyance at him and Wash just smiled and pushed his amusement at the AI. Epsilon just huffed.

 

"Dude, is it possible for you to make Church rage quit too? 'Cause that would be fuckin' awesome," Tucker asked and Wash thought of the few occasions that he had made Church rage quit.

 

"I seem to have a knack for that. Well, any creative form of revenge really," he pause and turned to Caboose, "Remember that time that Church flew?"

 

"Yeah... That was pretty neat," Caboose cheered.

 

"Wait, what!?" Tucker asked.

 

"He might have irritated me once and I might have 'forgotten' to tell him how to use the grav lift," he replied.

 

"Damn it! I miss all the good shit!" Tucker cried and Wash smiled in amusement.

 

"Oh! Tucker! Tucker! Does this mean that Agent Washingtub is going to be the leader of Blue Team now!?" Caboose asked excitedly. Wash didn't really think that he was cut out to be anyone's leader.

 

_"Well, he'd probably be better at it than Church,"_ Texas added as she appeared next to Caboose.

 

Wash winced at her appearance. The last time he had seen Texas, she shot him. He wasn't really all that comfortable being around her. Well, not that he ever really had been to begin with. Even back during the Project he tried to stay out of her way.

 

"She does raise a point. But I guess that's up to him," Tucker said as he looked at Wash.

 

Lucky for him, he was saved from having to answer that question by the arrival of the jeep. Pink, Brown, Purple, Black, and Cobalt filled his vision. He was surprised to see that Church hadn't already transferred to his body yet. And he was a little disturbed to see Kai dressed in Black armor. It was like a reminder of Texas. Then the thought hit him, they were like a mirrored version of Church and Texas. It was really starting to creep him out. They needed to find a some way to change their armor colors back soon because he didn't think he could stand to see Kai walking around like that.

 

He watched as Kai jumped out of the back seat before she marched up to him. And really, that Black armor was _very_ unnerving. He felt Epsilon's agreement with that thought. He was actually kind of surprised that he didn't physically flinch when she came towards him.

 

"When you're healed, I'm going to beat the shit out of you," Kai promised and Wash had no doubt that she would.

 

"I'll keep that in mind," he sighed.

 

"I don't like it," she said referring to his armor, "It's not you."

 

"I'm not really a fan of yours either. For obvious reasons," Kai snorted at his statement and then turned to the group just as the Reds walked in.

 

Sarge was yelling at Grif for crashing their ride and Grif was arguing back about the ship not having an instruction manuel. Simmons just looked put out from the argument that must have been going on for a while now at this point. At least Wash now had an answer for why they made it there before the Reds did.

 

"Enough!" Kai screamed at them and they all shut up, "Now then, does anyone have any ideas on where we should go? Or do we just want to stay here for a while?"

 

_"Well, according to my memories, there should be an abandoned base near by here called Hidden Cove. We could always go there,"_ Epsilon supplied, _"And we can send groups back here to retrieve the supplies that they'll keep dropping because they have no idea that these guys are dead. No one reported it."_

 

"Sounds good to me," Grif said as he hopped into the driver's seat of the jeep.

 

Wash rolled his eyes at that action, "We need to find supplies first though. That place has been empty for years."

 

Just as he was about to go into the base and find what they need, Kai stopped him, "You're going to sit the fuck down and let everyone else do it. Church isn't able to tell me much but he was able to tell me that you're in bad shape."

 

Wash sighed and obeyed. He was in no condition to be used as Kai's punching bag. And as he had learned, Kai hit hard. She nodded in appoval and then wandered over to the jeep.

 

He watched as she told Church that she was going to pull him and put him in his body and that she would do the same with Texas next. Within moments, Church was moving around and complaining about how he never wanted to do that again since he had to listen to Kai's thoughts. Apparently, most of them were about how she was going to make _him_ feel better while he recovered and Wash actually blushed a little at that. Epsilon laughed hysterically at that.

 

Shortly after that, Texas was up and moving again as well. The first thing she did was punch Tucker for making a lewd comment at her before she walked up to him. Wash was wary of her intentions and just waited silently for her to speak.

 

"You're a brave man for being with her," oddly, Wash knew that this was as close to an apology as he was going to get from Texas, "She stood up to me you know. Wouldn't let me get near you. Good luck, I hope it works out for you."

 

Wash just blinked and then nodded at her. He watched her walk off to help the others find things that they need. Wash sighed a leaned back in his seat. As much as they usually bothered him, he wouldn't mind having some company right now. Epsilon made an offended sound and Wash smiled at his annoyance.

 

After half an hour, they were finally ready to go. Grif drove the jeep and followed after Sarge, Simmons, and Wash -because they are the Reds and the Reds don't walk anywhere. Epsilon gave directions to the base and they were there in about ten minutes. Sarge and Simmons mostly unloaded everything they brought with them while Grif pretended to help them. When the unloading was done, Sarge and Grif got back into their vehicles, leaving Wash and Simmons there while they went back to pick up some of the others.

 

40 minutes later everyone was there and getting things set up. Kai was busy shaking the dust out of all the bed sheet -they would wash them tomorrow- and Wash was sitting on a small boulder nearby watching her. It wasn't like there was anything that he could do to help since Kai had threatened him again when he had tired. By the time night fell, almost everything was set up with only a few odds and ends to work out.

 

Wash was lying in his bed and Kai was lying next to him. He had pulled Epsilon and placed him in his armor's storage so that he could become more familiar with everything since it wasn't his original armor. Epsilon was more than happy to stay there after what Church had told them earlier about Kai's thoughts.

 

As if his thoughts summoned it, Kai leaned up and kissed him and Wash was perfectly content to let it happen. Once she pulled away, Kai looked up at him and stared for a bit. If he wasn't already used to Kai's need to scrutinize his appearance, the action would have made him uncomfortable.

 

"You still need a haircut," she told him and he snorted at that. Kai leaned up and kissed him again and Wash was suddenly getting the feeling that Epsilon would be very happy that he pulled him.

 

He was. And so was Wash the next day.

-End Of Revelation-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you that were expecting a sex scene, sorry that there isn't one. I myself don't like sex and because of that, I wouldn't be able to write one since I have such little experience with it. Talking about it in general or making jokes about it is easy (I have/had a lot of guy friends, they talk about it a lot), but that's about as far as I can go. I'll probably always just allude to the fact that they did.
> 
> Also, I've been asked a couple of times if I plan on continuing this story beyond Recollection. The answer is yes. I have started a continuation that will cover all the way through the Chorus Arc. I won't be posting any of it until it is completely written out though. Sometimes I get sidetracked or pulled away from something for too long and then it takes me a while to get back into writing. Which is why I left this one with an actual ending instead of leaving it open. In the meantime though, I do have a couple of one shots and a shorter story that I'll be posting while I work on the continuation. I'll warn you in advance though that the next story will be Wash/Carolina since that is actually my favorite pairing for Red Vs. Blue.
> 
> This has been a wild ride and I hope that some of you will join me on the next one as well!

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea how things work on this site so I hope I did everything okay. If I messed something up, please let me know and I will try to fix it.


End file.
